Nigeria Seeks $500 Million Loan from World Bank for Rural Roads

The Federal Government of Nigeria has approached the World Bank for a $500 million loan to enhance rural road infrastructure and agricultural marketing. 

This initiative aims to improve connectivity for the 92 million Nigerians currently lacking access to adequate roads, as highlighted in the final draft of the Resettlement Policy Framework for the Nigeria Rural Access and Agricultural Marketing Project Scale-Up (RAAMP-SU) by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

“Nigeria’s road network spans approximately 194,000 kilometers, including 34,000 kilometers of federal roads, 30,000 kilometers of state roads, and 130,000 kilometers of registered rural roads, resulting in a road density of about 0.21 kilometers per square kilometer,” the policy document states. 

However, despite this extensive network, only 25.5% of the rural population lives within 2 kilometers of an all-weather road, leaving around 92 million rural residents without sufficient connectivity.

The document further highlights that rural access is particularly limited in areas with high populations of economically disadvantaged individuals. 

This underscores the urgent need to expand and improve the rural road network and preserve rural transport assets.

The RAAMP-SU project has an estimated total cost of $600 million, with the World Bank expected to fund 83.33% of this amount. 

This commitment represents a 79% increase from the initial $280 million commitment for the parent project.

The funding will support three main components: Improvement of Resilient Rural Access ($387 million), Climate Resilient Asset Management ($158 million), and Institutional Strengthening and Project Management ($55 million).