World Bank Approves $500 Million for Nigeria's Women Economic Empowerment Program

Strategic Insights -

The World Bank has approved $500 million for the Nigeria for Women Program Scale Up (NFWP-SU) to support the Nigerian government in improving the livelihoods of women in the country. The financing will focus on increasing economic opportunities for women, addressing gender inequality, and enhancing their resilience to climate change. The program aims to institutionalize women's economic empowerment platforms and link them to markets, financial, and non-financial services. The NFWP-SU builds on the existing Nigeria for Women Project, which has shown promising outcomes in creating economic opportunities for thousands of rural women through the Women Affinity Groups.

Key Takeaways:

  • The Nigeria for Women Program Scale Up (NFWP-SU) has been approved with a financing of $500 million to support the Nigerian government in improving the livelihoods of women.
  • The program aims to increase economic opportunities for women, address gender inequality, and enhance their resilience to climate change.
  • The NFWP-SU will focus on increasing financial inclusion for members of Women Affinity Groups (WAG) by providing financial literacy and planning, savings, and savings mobilization, and building partnerships with financial service providers.
  • The project will target women in low-productivity sectors, with limited access to inputs and inadequate knowledge and information about improved inputs and practices.
  • The program aims to mobilize poor and vulnerable women into different institutions and link them to markets, financial, and non-financial services.
  • The NFWP-SU will institutionalize WAGs and other platforms for women's economic empowerment and enhance the economic opportunities of unbanked women.
  • The program aims to bridge the gender gap in key economic sectors, which could yield gains of between $9.3 billion and $22.9 billion.

Statistics:

  • The World Bank's International Development Association (IDA) has approximated that the closing the gender gap in key economic sectors could yield gains of between $9.3 billion and $22.9 billion.
  • The Nigeria for Women Project (NFWP) has supported over 427,887 WAG members through the formation and strengthening of 20,506 groups.
  • In two years, these WAGs have saved about NGN 4 billion ($8.9 million equivalent) with a significant percentage of these funds in circulation as loans at any given time.
  • As of 2023, IDA had allocated over $21 billion annually for the past three years, with about 61% going to Africa.

Sources:

  • "Nigeria for Women Program Scale Up." The World Bank, 2023.
  • "The International Development Association (IDA)." The World Bank, 2023.
  • "Nigeria for Women Project." The World Bank, 2023.