World Bank's portfolio in Nigeria among largest in Africa: official

The World Bank's portfolio in Nigeria was among the largest in the entire African region with a cost of about 11 billion U.S. dollars, a senior bank official disclosed here on Thursday, Trend reports citing Xinhua.

Rachid Benmessaoud, the bank's country director, said this in Abuja, Nigeria's capital city at the maiden edition of the Nigeria portfolio performance award.

The award was to recognize and honor outstanding performance from project implementation units of World Bank supported projects at states and federal levels.

Benmessaoud told his audience that 60 percent of the bank's programs were implemented at the state level and another 40 percent by the federal government.

He said the bank had more than 30 operational projects, noting that the bank's net commitment to Nigeria over the years is about 11 billion dollars.

The projects cut across health, education, agriculture, social protection, energy, infrastructure, and governance among others in the 36 states of Nigeria, including the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

The bank's commitment is geared toward projects targeted at alleviating poverty and improving the lives of the people, according to Benmessaoud.

Speaking at the event, Mahmud Isa-Dutse, permanent secretary in the ministry of finance, reiterated the ministry's commitment to the World Bank in building an enabling environment to manage its portfolio in Nigeria.