World Bank loans Nigeria $2.1 Billion to rebuild North-East

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July 22, 2015 11:36 AM

This was announced by President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday, July 22, 2015, in Washington DC, US during a meeting with representatives of the World Bank, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the World Health Organisation (WHO).

The Nigerian government has secured a loan of $2.1 billion from the World Bank to rebuild communities which were destroyed by Boko Haram in the country’s North-East.

This was announced by President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday, July 22, 2015, in Washington DC, US during a meeting with representatives of the World Bank, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the World Health Organisation (WHO).

According to a statement released by Buhari’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, the President also said during the meeting that priority must be given to the resettlement of people who were displaced internally as a result of the activities of the Boko Haram sect in the North-East.

The statement reads in part:

“The President urged the World Bank to send a team, which would work in concert with a team from the Federal Government, so that a proper assessment of needs could be done.”

“The World Bank will spend $2.1bn through its International Development Agency, which gives low interest rate loans to governments. The first 10 years will be interest-free, while (the interest for the) additional 30 years will be at lower than the capital market rate.”

“The World Bank is eager to move in quickly, give out the loans and give succour to the people of the North-East, long at the mercy of an insurgency that has claimed over 20,000 souls.”

Buhari is currently in the US on a four-day official visit.

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Watch Amnesty International video on alleged human rights abuses in Nigeria's fight against Boko Haram below:

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