The Nigerian Federal Executive Council (FEC) has granted approval for a $3.45 billion loan request from the World Bank to finance five projects across various sectors, including power, renewable energy, states' resource mobilization, adolescent girls' empowerment, and women's empowerment.

The announcement of this approval was made by Wale Edun, the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, following the FEC meeting in Abuja on Monday.

Edun explained, "Today at the Federal Executive Council, I presented five memos, which were gracefully approved by the Council. They had to do with concessional and, in many cases, zero-interest financing by the World Bank and the International Development Association, which is the very concessional financing arm."

The approved projects cover various sectors:

Power sector.

Renewable energy sector.

Funding for states to support resource mobilization programs for improved internally generated revenue.

An initiative for adolescent girls' learning and empowerment.

A project aimed at women's empowerment.

Edun highlighted that the loan has a 40-year repayment period with a 10-year moratorium, meaning repayments will commence in 2033. He mentioned that the loan is considered "zero-interest," but some associated fees will be incurred.

During the same briefing, Betta Edu, the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, also disclosed that FEC had approved the establishment of a Humanitarian and Poverty Alleviation Trust Fund. The fund is intended to enable the Federal Government to respond promptly to humanitarian situations in Nigeria, with the goal of raising at least $5 billion annually to address these challenges.

Edu stated, "Every other day, we hear about the crisis, the floods, and the rest of it. We need to be able to respond adequately as a country. Beyond this, the issue of poverty alleviation is one of the agendas of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in his 8-point agenda, and we want to be able to tackle it headlong. How much are we looking at? Every year, we hope to be able to raise at least $5 billion within this fund, and this is from the various sources that I’ve mentioned and even more. We are hopeful that with the creation of this funding, we can sit down with all the key stakeholders, including other ministries, and actually work out the full modality of implementation in Nigeria."