A $500 million loan has been granted by the World Bank Group to aid Nigeria in advancing women’s empowerment.
Under the leadership of the new President, Bola Tinubu, the World Bank authorised a second loan.
It represents an increase in funding for the Nigeria for Women Programme, which was initially authorised on June 27, 2018, with funding totaling $100 million.
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This was contained in a statement issued by the World Bank Country Director for Nigeria, Shubham Chaudhur.
It reads;
The World Bank has approved $500m for Nigeria for Women Program Scale Up (NFWP-SU). The scale-up financing will further support the government of Nigeria to invest in improving the livelihoods of women in Nigeria.
The NFWP-SU will help to ensure better economic opportunities for women, which is essential for addressing gender inequality; guaranteeing better education, health, and nutrition outcomes for families; and building women’s and communities’ resilience to climate change.
The World Bank stressed the need for the government to address issues that inhibit women’s economic empowerment and hinder inclusive, low-carbon, and resilient economic growth.
Chaudhuri further noted;
We have seen promising outcomes from the parent NFWP which has helped to create economic opportunities for thousands of rural women through the Women Affinity Groups. NFWP’s model is helping to improve livelihood opportunities for women and enhancing their capacity to adapt to climate change and to participate in local administrations for policymaking related to community empowerment.
Closing the gender gap in key economic sectors could yield gains of between $9.3bn and $22.9bn, we are optimistic that this scale-up will help Nigeria to move closer to bridging this gap.
