The Minister of State for Budget and National Planning, Prince Clem Agba, on Wednesday in Benin City said the World Bank has granted a one-year extension for the Nigeria Cares programme.
The programme was meant to support micro, small and medium-scale enterprises to cushion the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
He stated this at the ministerial town hall meeting for beneficiaries of the scheme from Edo, Delta, Bayelsa and Rivers States.
Agba said there was also approval to give cash advances to the 36 states of the federation since many of them would be getting new governors, and the cash crunch occasioned by COVID-19 was still not over and still affecting the states.
He said, “The effects of COVID-19 still live with us and that is why the NG-CARES programme is still very important. We all can recall that the COVID-19 pandemic, which ravaged many economies in the world, had devastating consequences on the livelihoods of the poor and vulnerable individuals; formal and informal businesses especially micro, small enterprises.
“So, it was very important that people don’t lose their source of livelihood and be able to keep their jobs even if new ones are not being created.,”
He said that each state was given N1bn during the COVID-19 period with the exception of Lagos which got N10bn, while Kano and the FCT, Abuja, got a little more as they were the epicenters of the pandemic.
“He added, “We gave N1bn to each state during the COVID-19 with the exception of Lagos that got N10bn, Kano and the FCT got a little more because those were the epicenters of the pandemic but we still had to get the $750m World Bank loan to support the states.
“We had a flooding problem last year which affected our food security and the supply chains for food. So we approached the World Bank to extend the programme for another year to June 2024 and I am glad that we got the approval.”
The high point of the event was the testimony of the beneficiaries who explained how the project helped them to recover and build their businesses after COVID-19.
