The World Bank yesterday said it will  spend about $8 billion in the new Country Partnership Strategy (CPS) as development assistance to Nigeria for  the period of three years spanning 2014 – 2017.
Already, the bank has earmarked $1.7 billion as development assistance to the  country in the current financial year.
Speaking at the formal presentation of its Country Partnership Strategy for Nigeria in Abuja,  World Bank Country Director, Ms Marie Francois Marie-Nelly, stated that under the new CPS, Nigeria has officially moved to blend status  for World Bank lending.
According to her,  this would allow the country to continue to access the International Development Association (IDA) window with ( repayment over 25 years and a grace period of 5 years) and to also start accessing the IBRD window under new terms
With the overall indicative allocation of $8 billion, Marie-Nelly, said additional support would be provided by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA).
The Country Representative also explained that  the World Bank had enjoyed a strong partnership with Nigeria,  which deepened significantly since the return to democratic rule in 1999, adding that  the new CPS is  aimed at supporting the implementation of the government’s vision 20:2020 and the transformation agenda.
She said the CPS had been prepared in the context of the World Bank Group’s renewed commitment to reduce the number of people living below $1.25 per capita per day to three  per cent by 2030 and fostering income growth of the bottom 40 per cent population in every country.
Marie-Nelly also said that the CPS was organised around three main areas which include the federally-led structural reform  agenda for growth and jobs, the quality and efficiency of social service delivery at state level and governance and public sector management.
Beneficiaries of the new support strategies , according to her, include women and girls,youths, rural communities, poor and vulnerable households and large and small enterprises.
Also speaking, the Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, said the World Bank CPS was strategic to Nigeria as it supports the government’s transformation agenda and those of the states where over 50 per cent of Nigeria’s resources are being spent.
She was happy as the CPS was  focused on job creation,  improved power supply and other infrastructure.
In his response at the occasion, Kogi State Governor, Captain  Idris Wada, commended the bank for the N800 million development assistance to his state.

Development assistance: World Bank earmarks $8bn for Nigeria