World Bank, French Development Agency and FG Commit $575 Million to Rural Roads Construction

The World Bank and the French Development Agence (AFD) have signed a tripartite agreement with the Federal Government of Nigeria to commit a total sum of $575 million to rural road construction in 13 states in Nigeria.

The agreement will see 53,730km of rural roads constructed between March 2021 to 2026.

Aminu Muhammed, the National Coordinator, Rural Access and Agricultural Marketing Project, said 12 of the 13 states marked for the project had received initial take-off disbursement.

Muhammed, who attended a two-week ‘3rd Implementation Support Review Mission’ meeting in Abuja on Friday, said the project will ensure the construction of 5,921 rural roads.

Muhammed said, “The initial target of this special rural road intervention is to construct a total number of 5,921, summing up to 53,730km, to return prosperity to the farmers across strata and gender, with youth and women being the primary target. Ultimately, an elite club of farmers would emerge and a new crop of successful market men and women would take over the business world.”

Others at the event were Task Team Lead for World Bank’s Transport Sector, Olatunji Ahmed; AFD’s TTL, Mr Francois Giroudy; Project Manager, AFD, Antonio Le Bihan; and representative of the Project Coordinating Unit, Kush Peter.

Muhammed added that the International Labour Organisation (ILO) had also expressed interest in the project and readiness to offer both technical and financial assistance, stating that the World Bank would fast-track “no objection” for the ILO intervention.