01 March 2013 – Africa Development Bank, AfDB, yesterday approved N47 billion loan for Nigeria to finance the transport sector and governance reform programme.
“The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank Group approved, Wednesday in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, a loan of US $300 million to finance the transport sector and economic governance reform programme and the Nigeria Country Strategy Paper, CSP, for the period 2013-2017.
“The loan aims to support the Nigerian government to accelerate reform implementation in the areas of transport sector governance and public expenditure management,” AfDB said.
Reform measures include the establishment of a Federal Road Authority, National Road Maintenance Fund, Road-Tolling Policy, and Axel Load Control Policy.
“In the areas of public financial management reform, the programme involves the adoption of International Public Sector Accounting Standards, IPSAS; Internal Audit Mode-rnisation Plan, Treasuring Single Account, TSA; Government Integrated Public Financial Manage-ment, GIFMIS, and Transparency and Compliance in Procurement and Audit Practices.
“The programme will also create fiscal space for increased investment in road infrastructure development.
It is an integral part of a broader set of interventions of the bank, designed to support Nigeria’s transformation agenda with emphasis to economic governance and infrastructure development.
“The Country Strategy Paper outlines the bank’s engagement and assistance to the Federal Republic of Nigeria. It will focus on two strategic pillars.
“First is supporting the development of a sound policy environment and the second is investing in critical infrastructure.
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