A new five-year Country Strategy Paper for Nigeria has been approved by the African Development Bank (AfDB) Group, which pledges almost $650 million a year between 2025 and 2030 to promote economic change, resilience, and widespread prosperity.
In a statement available to BrandSpur banking and finance news desk, posted on its website on Thursday, the Bank revealed that $2.95 billion would be given over the plan’s first four years, with an additional $3.21 billion coming from development partners in the form of co-finance.
According to the statement: “The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank Group has a new five-year Country Strategy Paper (2025-2030) for Nigeria, committing about $650m annually to drive economic transformation, build resilience, and foster broad-based prosperity across the country.
“Under the new strategy, the bank will provide $2.95bn over the first four years, complemented by an estimated $3.21bn in co-financing from development partners. The strategy focuses on two key priority areas: promoting sustainable, climate-smart infrastructure to enhance competitiveness and industrial development; and advancing gender and youth-inclusive green growth through industrialisation,” it added.
Promoting climate-smart, sustainable infrastructure to boost industrial development and competitiveness, as well as advancing gender and youth-inclusive green growth through industrialisation, are the two main priority areas of the new plan. The Bank states that the strategy is to overcome Nigeria’s infrastructure gap, which is anticipated to reach $2.3 trillion between 2020 and 2043, by funding clean water systems, climate-friendly highways, and agribusinesses that generate employment, particularly for women and young people.
Continuing, it is anticipated that the investments will help Nigeria achieve its goals of creating roughly 1,561,000 jobs and doubling its economy to $1 trillion.
Nigeria’s development plans, such as Agenda 2050, the National Development Plan 2021–2025, and the 2023 Renewed Hope Agenda, are in line with the Country Strategy Paper. By expanding energy availability, promoting market accessibility for farmers, agro-entrepreneurs, and companies, and upgrading transportation networks, it also aims to support Nigeria’s ambitions to use the African Continental Free Trade Area.
Abdul Kamara, the Director General of the African Development Bank’s Nigeria Office, offered the following commentary on the revised plan: “This strategy takes a transformative partnership between the Bank and Nigeria to a new level. By investing in sustainable infrastructure and inclusive agricultural growth, we are not only building roads, power systems, and transforming agriculture – we are building pathways to prosperity for millions of Nigerians.”
However, the new plan is expected to boost access to financing, improve supply chains, provide training, and create economic possibilities for millions of Nigerians, including women, youth, micro, small, and medium-sized businesses, state governments, and rural areas.
Under initiatives like its Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa program, the bank stated that women entrepreneurs would receive targeted support, and young people would be given the necessary skills to combat unemployment. The policy will increase Nigeria’s adaptation efforts, lessen the consequences of droughts and floods, reduce farmer-herder conflicts, and help create a more resilient and cohesive economy by investing in greener, more resilient agricultural systems and infrastructure, it added.
