During the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting held on Monday, October 23, President Bola Tinubu’s government approved the application for a $3.45 billion loan to finance five specific projects. The projects include the power sector, renewable energy, states’ resource mobilisation programme, adolescent girls’ initiative for learning and empowerment and a women’s empowerment project.

The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, informed journalists that the loan would be received from the World Bank and the International Development Association. He further added that it is a “zero-interest” loan that will be payable within 40 years with a 10-year moratorium, meaning payments will begin in 2033.

Edun also stated that the projects that were approved for funding were in the power sector and renewable energy sector. There was funding for states for resource mobilisation programmes to support their internally generated revenue efforts.

“There was a project for adolescent girls’ initiative for learning and empowerment. And then finally the fifth financing that was approved was for Women project.”

Edun explained that the girls’ programme worth $700 million would support young girls within secondary school age to equip them with marketable skills in addition to their academic achievements.

Putting a figure to the project, Edun said, “$700m is the size of the current project. So those were five loans totalling $3.45bn. As you know, the tenure is all around 40 years, with a moratorium period of around 10 years and interest very low, or in the cases of loans, zero interest. However, some fees would be incurred.”

Explaining further, the Minister of Education, Dr Tahir Mamman, said the girls’ programme, which initially began in seven states, was expanded across 11.

Mamman said, “Initially, from seven participating states, we will now have about 11 additional states participating in this project, which will lead to the empowerment of girls between 10 to 20 right across the participating states.

“This is a very major escalation of this programme that is meant to empower our girls, our teachers and the provision for additional schools in the country.”

He added that the programmes were in line with the Tinubu administration’s agenda to reduce, “if not eliminated altogether,” the number of out-of-school girls and children in general.