The Federal Executive Council has approved a 3.45 billion loan application to finance the power and renewable energy sector, as well as to expand the Adolescent Girls Initiative for Learning and Empowerment (AGILE) project.
The announcement was made by Mr Wale Edun, the Minister of Finance and the Coordinating Minister of the Economy, following the Council Meeting held on Monday in Abuja.
Mr. Edun explained that these five loans come with a 40-year tenure and a 10-year moratorium period, featuring low-interest rates.
He said,
- “This involves the concessional and zero-interest financing by the World Bank and the International Development Association.”
- “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 mobilization programs to help them with the generated revenue efforts.”
$700 million for Girl Child Empowerment Project
The Minister stated that an amount of $700 million is anticipated to fund the expansion of the Adolescent Girls’ Initiative for Learning and Empowerment project, which is now being extended to eleven additional states.
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.
In his words,
- “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,”
Women projects
Mr Edun also highlighted that a significant portion of the loan encompasses funding for the Women’s project, an additional initiative aimed at enhancing their skill levels and providing support for financial inclusion.
He explained that,
- “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.
Total loan and interest
- “So those were five loans totalling $ 3.45 billion. 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 loan, zero interest, although some fees would be incurred.”
