The World Bank has defended its $75 million loan to Edo State Government,
\nsaying it grants significant funding only to governments it trusts will
\nuse the funds judiciously to achieve its development results.<\/p>\n
Speaking yesterday at a 3-day retreat for members of the State Executive
\nCouncil and Permanent Secretaries holding at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel,
\nAbuja to brainstorm and re-strategise on raising the bar on governance in
\nthe state, with the theme, \u201cFinishing Well\u201d, two top executives of the
\nWorld Bank, Mrs Gloria Joseph Raji and Dr Khwima Nthara said the Bank
\ntrusts Edo State Government to use the fund properly as it only provides
\nsupport to governments the Bank trusts to use its funds for development
\nresults.<\/p>\n
The Bank executives said \u201cEach time we came to Edo, we were quite
\nimpressed that we were taken around to see the results of these reforms
\nand that is why it was easy for us at the world Bank to sell the reforms
\nprogrammes in Edo to our Board in Washington.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mrs. Gloria Joseph Raji, Senior Economist, Macro-Economic and Fiscal
\nManagement, World Bank, Nigeria said, \u201cthrough programmes for result
\nfinancing, the World Bank provides finance for governments with a focus on
\nresult and capacity building. So disbursement of funds is based on
\nspecific program results that have been pre-agreed on between the bank and
\nrespective governments.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor example, we could say, if you achieve this level of vaccination with
\nyour own resources, then we will disburse some money to you\u201d.<\/p>\n
Mrs. Joseph-Raji continued, \u201cWhen we disbursed $75 million under the First
\nDevelopmental Policy Operation to Edo State, we did not say to Edo State,
\nyou must use it to build this hospital, or this school or all of that, it
\nwas on the basis of your completion of critical policies and institutional
\nactions which we call \u2018prior actions\u2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, the focus of Developmental Policy Financing is policy and
\ninstitutional reforms. We work with you to implement certain policies and
\ninstitutional reforms and on the basics of implementation of certain
\ncritical reforms and actions that we agreed on, we will disburse the
\nentire trunk of the funds.\u201d<\/p>\n
She emphasised the need for institutional reforms as this she says, ensure
\ncontinuity of government developmental programs even after their tenure.<\/p>\n
She said, \u201cInstitutional reforms are very important because they outlived
\ngovernment regimes so, it is important for governments to undertake
\nreforms of their systems and processes, institutionalized them and that is
\nwhat the focus of DPO are, to support policies and institutional reform
\nefforts and the bank is usually on hand to provide Policy and strategic
\nadvice, so we work with the governments in designing, in thinking through
\nyour policy and institutional reforms actions and then we provide advice
\nas necessary.<\/p>\n
\u201cOn the basis of the completion of certain critical policies and
\ninstitutional reforms actions which has been agreed between you and the
\nBank, the loan is approved by the bank and so, funds are being
\ntransferred. The entire trunk of funds is transferred into the government
\nbank account and they are co-mingled with your other funds. The funds are
\nnot tied to specific projects, you co-mingled them into your funds and you
\nspend them on your needs.\u201d<\/p>\n
She stressed, \u201cThe Bank provides significant funding to only governments
\nit trusts will use the funds properly to achieve its development results
\nbecause if we do not trust that you will use this fund judiciously, it
\nwould be a risk of the fund. So DPO\u2019s are provided basically to those
\ngovernments that the Bank trusts to use the funds for development
\nresults\u201d.<\/p>\n
Also speaking, the Programme Leader, Equitable Growth, Finance and
\nInstitution, World Bank, Nigeria, Dr Khwima Nthara said, \u201creforms have to
\nbe institutionalized. Edo is very lucky today to have a very reform minded
\nGovernor, next year, he leaves office. We pray that a like-minded Governor
\ntakes over from him but circumstances change, you don\u2019t know who else is
\ngoing to come with the Governor and that is why it is important to
\ninstitutionalize reforms so that they should transcend individual
\npersonality.<\/p>\n
\u201cEven when Comrade Adams Oshiomhole is not here, his legacy should remain,
\nnot just what he has achieved, but the building blocks of the reform
\nprograms must remain so that even when the regime changes, the reforms
\nmight stay. That is why institutionalizing those reforms are important.<\/p>\n
\u201cEach time we came to Edo, we were quite impressed that we were taken
\naround to see the results of these reforms and that is why it was easy for
\nus at the world Bank to sell the reforms programmes in Edo to our Board in
\nWashington.<\/p>\n
The World Bank team noted that of the 36 states of the federation, only
\nLagos and Edo State Governments as well as the Federal Government have
\nbeen able to access this developmental funds and therefore called on other
\nstate governments to embark on critical, efficient and Developmental
\nreforms project to enable them quality for the World Bank Developmental
\nfunds<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The World Bank has defended its $75 million loan to Edo State Government, saying it grants significant funding only to governments it trusts will use the funds judiciously to achieve…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":42887,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-42886","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive"],"yoast_head":"\n