The World Bank has approved a fresh $700 million loan for Nigeria to boost adolescent girls’ learning and empowerment.
According to a statement published on its website, the lender said the new loan will serve as additional funds for an ongoing project known as the Adolescent Girls Initiative for Learning and Empowerment.
The Bank noted that apart from the girls that would benefit from the financing, others included over 15 million students and beneficiaries, such as teachers, administrators, families, communities, and staff in existing and newly constructed schools.
“The World Bank approved additional financing of $700m for Nigeria to scale up the Adolescent Girls Initiative for Learning and Empowerment programme whose goal is to improve secondary education opportunities among girls in targeted states.
“The additional financing will scale up project activities from the current seven states to eleven additional states and increase the targeted beneficiaries to include out-of-school girls, those who are married, and those who have disabilities,” the statement read.
The World Bank put Nigeria’s out of school children at over 12 million, with many of them in Northern Nigeria.
It was also noted that an estimated one million children were affected by increased insecurity around schools in 2020-2021.
The statement added, “In the seven AGILE programme implementing states – Borno, Ekiti, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, and Plateau – the number of girls in secondary schools has increased from about 900,000 to over 1.6 million.
“Under the programme, over 5,000 classrooms have been renovated and over 250,000 eligible girls have received scholarships.
“The AGILE programme has supported construction and rehabilitation of WASH facilities in secondary schools and the installation of computers and solar panels which make attending school more convenient and conducive for both girls and boys. Life skills, systems strengthening, and advocacy are other key aspects of the program which address social norms impeding girls’ education.”
The World Bank Nigeria Country Director, Shubham Chaudhuri, stated that, “Closing the gender gaps in economic empowerment by ensuring girls have access to education and skills is key for Nigeria’s development and economic prosperity.
“Nigeria’s working population will soon be one of the youngest and largest around the world, which means that investing in adolescent girls is imperative when addressing overall economic prospects and growth.”
