The World Bank has approved the extension of the Federal Government COVID-19 Action Recovery and Economic Stimulus tagged: “NG-CARES” Programme from June 2023 to June 2024.
At a Ministerial Town Hall meeting on the NG-CARES programme for four states in Benin, Edo State capital, on Wednesday, the Minister of State for Budget and National Planning, Prince Clem Agba said that the extension of the programme was to address the food security gaps caused by the 2022 flood.
Agba, who chairs the Federal CARES Steering Committee (FCSC), said: “Due to last year’s flood that affected food security and the supply chain, we approached the World Bank for an extension of the programme from June 2023 to June 2024.
“I am glad that the World Bank’s Task Team Leader has communicated to me that we now have approval for an extension and the official letter would be sent to me next week”.
Agba said that Federal Government had also secured approval for another set of advance disbursements to the states, following the extension of the programme.
He said that based on the first round of direct assessment by the Independent Verification Agency, NG-CARES had impacted over two million direct beneficiaries, including the poor and vulnerable Nigerians.
Agba said that the NG-CARES programme was one of the policy options explored by the Federal Government to achieve its objective of removing 100 million Nigerians from poverty.
He restated the government’s commitment to restoring the livelihood of the poor and vulnerable Nigerians, maintaining food security, and facilitating the recovery of micro and small businesses.
The minister added that the Town Hall meeting enabled the government to talk directly to the beneficiaries in order to know their challenges with a view to correcting them for future programmes, among others.
Also, Dr. AbdulKarim Obaje, the National Coordinator, NG-CARES, said World Bank had approved the programme in 2020, while disbursement began in October 2021.
Obaje said that states in Benin Centre, namely: Edo, Bayelsa, Delta, and Rivers earned N1.459 billion with 19,188 beneficiaries; N2.28 billion with 27,735 beneficiaries; N3.31 billion with 31, 058 beneficiaries and N2.42 billion with 9, 877 beneficiaries respectively.
The Town Hall meeting was attended by stakeholders and beneficiaries of the NG-CARES Programme from Bayelsa, Delta, Rivers, and Edo States.
