The World Bank has approved three operations in Nigeria, totaling $1.08 billion in concessional financing, to strengthen education, improve nutrition, and enhance community resilience. The funding includes $500 million for the Nigeria: Community Action for Resilience and Economic Stimulus (NG-CARES) Program, $80 million for Accelerating Nutrition Results in Nigeria (ANRIN 2.0) and $500 million for Hope for Quality Basic Education for All (HOPE-EDU).
NG-CARES
Initially launched to mitigate the economic impact of COVID-19, NG-CARES has reached over 15 million beneficiaries across Nigeria’s 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory. It has evolved into a shock-responsive platform, delivering multisectoral interventions to support poor and vulnerable households. The additional funding will continue to those in need through social transfers, livelihood grants, public works programs, food security initiatives, and support for micro and small enterprises. With Nigeria facing economic pressures from fuel subsidy reforms and foreign exchange adjustments, this investment will also help strengthen local economies and social safety nets.
ANRIN 2.0
ANRiN 2.0 offers an evidence-based, multisectoral approach to combatting malnutrition and food insecurity, focusing on maternal and child health, integrated nutrition services, and household food security. The program focuses on preventive and curative nutrition services, improves maternal and young child feeding practices and dietary diversity and provides essential nutritional support to vulnerable populations, mitigating the immediate risks of malnutrition and food insecurity. The initial ANRIN program reached over 13 million children under five with nutrition services between 2018 and 2024.
HOPE-EDU
As part of a series of three interrelated operations, alongside HOPE-Governance and HOPE-Primary Health Care, the HOPE-EDU program will enhance Nigeria’s basic education system. The program will introduce structured pedagogy for foundational literacy and numeracy, create additional learning spaces to address overcrowding, and support decentralized management of education funds. The initiative is expected to directly benefit 29 million students, 500,000 teachers, and over 65,000 primary schools. The Program will also receive co-financing in the amount of US$52.18 million from the Global Partnership for Education Fund.
Dr. Ndiamé Diop, the World Bank Country Director for Nigeria, shared: “Investing in human capital is critical for Nigeria as it offers the best opportunity to unlock the enormous potential of Nigeria. These new set of programs will help Nigeria to accelerate education quality and support to vulnerable citizens. The additional financing will support the Nigerian government in transitioning from responding to and recovering from the COVID-19 crisis to building household and community resilience.”
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