By FRONTLINE REPORTERS

The World Bank has set a target of providing electricity access to 32 million Nigerians and connecting an additional 58 million people to broadband internet under its new Country Partnership Framework (CPF) for Nigeria covering 2026 to 2032.

The framework also seeks to support 9.5 million farmers through programmes aimed at improving agricultural production, value addition and access to markets, while the World Bank Group plans to mobilise $4.1 billion in private capital for infrastructure and agribusiness.

The Acting Country Director of the World Bank, Taimur Samad, unveiled the framework on Wednesday in Lagos during the Industrialisation and Competitiveness Forum organised by the Nigerian Economic Summit Group.

According to the World Bank, the new six-year framework is designed to promote the creation of more and better private-sector jobs, strengthen Nigeria’s competitiveness, boost productivity and improve the wellbeing of its population.

It will also focus on building resilience among people and ecosystems while unlocking greater private-sector investment in critical areas of the economy.

The bank said its interventions would cover distributed renewable energy, broadband infrastructure, access to finance for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), and agricultural value chains.

A fact sheet accompanying the framework listed the key targets as 32 million people gaining electricity access, 58 million additional people using broadband internet, 9.5 million farmers benefiting from improved production and market linkages, and $4.1 billion in private capital mobilisation.

Under its competitiveness and growth objective, the World Bank is targeting a 30 per cent increase in Nigeria’s non-oil revenue-to-GDP ratio, $6 billion in private capital enabled and an additional 250,000 SMEs gaining access to financial services.

The framework also places significant emphasis on human capital development. It targets 40 million beneficiaries of improved health, nutrition and population services, while 19.4 million students are expected to benefit from better education.

The bank further aims to reduce by eight percentage points the proportion of Nigerian children under five suffering from stunting.

In the area of social protection and climate resilience, the framework targets 41 million additional beneficiaries of social safety-net programmes and 11.7 million people with enhanced capacity to withstand climate-related risks.

The World Bank said it would concentrate its support on fewer strategic areas capable of delivering large-scale and measurable results rather than spreading its interventions across numerous programmes.

The framework prioritises job creation and private-sector-led growth, with the bank saying it would deepen its focus on mobilising private capital to support Nigeria’s development needs.

For the power sector, the framework includes a $750 million World Bank programme and a $200 million International Finance Corporation (IFC) facility aimed at expanding distributed renewable energy and increasing electricity access.

It also provides for a $500 million programme for resilient digital infrastructure and another $500 million pipeline programme focused on sustainable agricultural value chains.

The new framework builds on the World Bank Group’s existing partnership with Nigeria. According to the presentation, the previous CPF supported national programmes with more than $12 billion, with significant emphasis on state-level interventions and results-based financing.

The World Bank currently has an active $15.9 billion portfolio covering 30 projects in Nigeria. About two-thirds of the portfolio is implemented through national programmes at the state level, while half of the projects use results-based financing.

The bank said its average loan size to Nigeria increased from $415 million in 2021 to $580 million in 2025, even as the number of active projects declined from 36 to 30.

The new CPF also provides for closer collaboration among the World Bank, IFC and the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), with annual business planning intended to give the institutions greater flexibility in responding to emerging development priorities.

The World Bank said it would continue to expand its engagement with state governments while maintaining its focus on resilience, climate adaptation, gender-related interventions and development efforts in conflict-affected areas.

Other pathways identified under the framework include macroeconomic stability and governance, an improved business environment, early childhood development, social protection, human capital and skills development, digital transformation, power and energy access, climate resilience, agriculture and improved access to finance.

The World Bank said the overarching objective is to support a more competitive and productive Nigerian economy while creating the conditions for sustainable private-sector investment and job creation over the 2026–2032 period.

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