On Friday the Board of Directors of the African Development Bank (AfDB), approved a $288.5m loan to help Nigeria fight the Coronavirus pandemic and its impact on its people and businesses.
A statement from the AfDB headquarters in Cote D’Ivoire read that the loan will strengthen the country’s emergency response to COVID-19 and help ease the challenges faced by its people and businesses.
Nigeria is currently said to be faced by two issues, the coronavirus outbreak and plunge in its economy. It was earlier projected that the national economy will grow by 2.9% of the GDP in 2020 and a further 3.3.% of the GDP in 2021 but due to the outbreak its economy is projected to shrink by 4.4% of the GDP.
The loan is the Bank’s response to help reduce the sharp fall in oil prices and huge impact on the Nigerian economy,
“The proposed programme will ensure that the fiscal position and the economy are sufficiently supported to weather COVID-19 shocks, thereby limiting its potential adverse impact on livelihoods and the economy more generally,” Ebrima Faal, Senior Director of the African Development Bank for Nigeria said.
Faal further stated that the Bank will discuss the need for Nigeria to diversify its economy and also put strong measures in place to monitor the use of COVID-19 funds and will maintain a dialogue, especially with the Office of the Auditor General in Nigeria, to ensure transparency and accountability.