The Federal Executive Council has approved the sum of $3.45b loan application for the funding of the power and renewable energy sector as well as for the expansion of the Adolescent Girls Initiative For Learning and Empowerment project.
The Minister of Finance and the Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr Wale Edun made this known in Abuja, at the end of the Council Meeting held on Monday.
Mr Edun said the loans which are five specifically are for a tenure of 40 years, and a moratorium period of 10 years with low interest.
He said that “this involves the concessional and zero-interest financing by the World Bank and the International Development Association.”
Mr. Edun also stated that another aspect of the loan application involves the funding for states for resource mobilization programs to help the State with the generated revenue efforts.
He said; “I presented five memos which were gracefully approved by the Federal Executive Council. They had to do with concessional and in many cases zero-interest financing by the World Bank and the International Development Association, which is the very concessional financing arm. The projects that were approved for funding were in the power sector and then the renewable energy sector. There was funding for states for resource mobilisation programs to help them with the generated revenue efforts.”
The Minister said that a sum of $700m is expected for the financing of the Adolescent Girls’ Initiative for Learning and Empowerment project which is now expanded to eleven more states.
“There was a project for adolescent girls’ initiative for learning and empowerment, essentially, as it says, it’s a program to support young girls from the age of 11, secondary school age, and to ensure that at the end of their schooling, they have one skill or the other that is marketable, as well as the academic laurels,” he said.
Mr Edun further said that a major phase of the loan also included financing for the Women’s project, an additional project that encompasses upscaling of their skill levels, and Provision of support for financial inclusion.
“And then finally the fifth financing that was approved was for the Women project and this is an additional project. The first one was very successful. It was all about empowering women, upscaling their skill levels, and of course, giving them some financial inclusion, including in the banking system.
“So those were five loans totaling $3.45billion. And as you know, the tenure is all around 40 years, moratorium period of around 10 years and interest very low, or in the cases of either loans, zero interest, although some fees would be incurred,” the Minister explained.
The Adolescent Girls Initiative for Learning and Empowerment, (AGILE) Project is geared at improving secondary education opportunities for adolescent girls aged between 10 and 20.
Mercy Chukwudiebere
