The Federal Executive Council, during its session on Monday, approved a $3.45 billion loan application aimed at financing five specific items. These encompass a range of crucial projects spanning the power sector, renewable energy initiatives, state resource mobilization programs, an adolescent girls’ empowerment and education initiative, and a project dedicated to empowering women.
Wale Edun, who serves as the Minister of Finance and the Coordinating Minister of the Economy, shared this update with State House Correspondents. He elaborated on the specifics of the approved loan, revealing that it would be a “zero-interest” loan, with a repayment period extending over 40 years. Furthermore, a 10-year moratorium would be in place, resulting in repayment obligations commencing in the year 2033.
Edun provided further insights into the approved projects. Notably, the funding allocation includes support for the power sector and endeavors in the renewable energy domain. Additionally, financial backing will be channeled towards state-level resource mobilization programs, which aim to enhance internally generated revenue initiatives. The allocation also extends to an initiative designed to empower adolescent girls, focusing on their education and skills development. Lastly, the fifth approved financing component is dedicated to empowering women, encompassing a range of relevant programs and projects.
One of the significant projects is the Adolescent Girls’ Initiative for Learning and Empowerment, which is allocated $700 million. It is designed to support young girls of secondary school age by equipping them with valuable skills in addition to their academic achievements, thereby enhancing their overall prospects.
Putting a figure to the project, Edun said, “$700m is the size of the current project.
“So those were five loans totaling $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’ program, 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 program that is meant to empower our girls, our teachers, and the provision for additional schools in the country.”
He added that the programs were in line with the Tinubu administration’s agenda to reduce, “if not eliminated,” the number of out-of-school girls and children generally.
The Federal Executive Council also approved the setting up of the Humanitarian and Poverty Alleviation Fund with the hope of raising the sum of $5bn annually for emergency responses to humanitarian crises.
The minister of humanitarian affairs and poverty alleviation, Dr. Betta Edu, disclosed this. Edu said the money would be raised from the government, contributions from development partners, private sectors, and individuals, among others.
