World Bank defends $75m loan to Edo

The World Bank has defended its $75 million loan to Edo State Government. The World Bank said it grants significant funding only to governments it trusts will use the funds judiciously to achieve its development results.

Speaking on Wednesday at a three-day retreat for members of the State Executive Council and Permanent Secretaries, holding at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja to brainstorm and re-strategise on raising the bar on governance in the state, with the theme: “Finishing Well,” two top executives of the World Bank, Gloria Joseph Raji and Dr. Khwima Nthara, said the Bank trusts the Edo State Government to use the fund properly as it only provides support to governments the Bank trusts to use its funds for development results.

The Bank executives said: “Each time we came to Edo, we were quite impressed that we were taken around to see the results of these reforms and that is why it was easy for us at the world Bank to sell the reforms programmes in Edo to our Board in Washington.”

Raji, Senior Economist, Macro-Economic and Fiscal Management of the World Bank, Nigeria, said: “Through programmes for result financing, the World Bank provides finance for governments with a focus on result and capacity building. So disbursement of funds is based on specific programme results that have been pre-agreed on between the bank and respective governments.

“For example, we could say, if you achieve this level of vaccination with your own resources, then we will disburse some money to you.

“When we disbursed $75 million under the First Developmental Policy Operation to Edo State, we did not say to Edo State, you must use it to build this hospital, or this school or all of that, it was on the basis of your completion of critical policies and institutional actions which we call ‘prior actions’.

“So, the focus of Developmental Policy Financing is policy and institutional reforms. We work with you to implement certain policies and institutional reforms and on the basics of implementation of certain critical reforms and actions that we agreed on, we will disburse the entire trunk of the funds.”

Raji emphasised the need for institutional reforms as this she says, ensure continuity of government developmental programmes even after their tenure.