The World Bank has revealed that its total ongoing and approved development projects and lending operations in Nigeria exceed $16 billion, spanning key sectors including education, health, social protection, energy, and infrastructure.
The disclosure came as the bank’s Managing Director of Operations, Ms. Anna Bjerde, commenced a three-day visit to Nigeria on Sunday to discuss how the World Bank Group could support efforts to accelerate growth and job creation.
During her visit, Bjerde met with Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, who reaffirmed his administration’s commitment to partner with the World Bank in energy, agriculture, tourism, and human capital development.
The governor emphasised Lagos State’s readiness to attract further investments and leverage World Bank support to enhance infrastructure and residents’ living standards.
Sanwo-Olu highlighted his administration’s achievements over the last six years through the THEMES+ developmental agenda, which has positively impacted millions of residents.
He noted that Lagos moved from 29th to 1st place in the Ease of Doing Business rankings over the past year, reflecting substantial progress across state operations.
In her remarks, Bjerde commended Lagos State’s performance, noting that its stability and policy consistency contributed to predictability for investors.
She emphasised that the state remains a significant stakeholder on the World Bank’s intervention dashboard.
“Nigeria has been very consistent. Policies haven’t been changing much, and that is helping predictability, especially for investors.
”We like the government’s effort on Ease of Doing Business and cutting off the red tape,” she said.
Bjerde also announced plans for a five-year country review to evaluate Nigeria’s progress, with Lagos serving as a model for private-sector-led growth.
She highlighted the bank’s intention to leverage the state’s capacity to improve financing models for infrastructural development, energy, agriculture, tourism, and human capital initiatives.
The visit would also include meetings with Vice President Kashim Shettima, Minister of Finance Wale Edun, Central Bank Governor Olayemi Cardoso, and senior officials of the World Bank Group, including Vice Presidents Ousmane Diagana and Ed Mountfield.
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, currently holds an investment portfolio exceeding $1.2 billion in Nigeria.
IFC focuses on promoting diversified growth, inclusion, sustainability, job creation, universal energy access, green energy adoption, and financing for micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs).
During the visit, consultations would be held with government officials, private sector leaders, and civil society to inform the upcoming World Bank Country Partnership Framework (CPF) for Nigeria.
The new framework prioritised job creation, energy access, and private-sector-led development, with a focus on improving the enabling environment, unlocking human capital, building resilience, and maximising private investment.
Bjerde also highlighted flagship initiatives, including Mission 300, a World Bank and African Development Bank-led project aimed at connecting 300 million Africans to affordable, reliable electricity by 2030.
In Nigeria, this would be implemented through the $750 million Distributed Access through Renewable Energy Scaleup (DARES) project, which seeks to expand clean energy access to over 17.5 million Nigerians via mini-grids, solar home systems, and household energy solutions.
The World Bank would also continue support for AgriConnect to transform smallholder farming into a commercially viable engine for jobs, higher incomes, and global food security.
Beyond financing, the World Bank provides analytics, policy advisory, and institutional strengthening to support development programmes at federal and state levels.
