The World Bank has set a target of connecting 32 million Nigerians to electricity and providing 58 million additional people with access to broadband internet under its new Country Partnership Framework (CPF) for Nigeria covering 2026 to 2032.
The framework also aims to support 9.5 million farmers through programmes focused on improving agricultural production, value addition and market access, while the World Bank Group plans to mobilise $4.1 billion in private capital for infrastructure and agribusiness.
The Acting Country Director of the World Bank in Nigeria, Taimur Samad, presented the new framework on Wednesday in Lagos at the Industrialisation and Competitiveness Forum organised by the Nigerian Economic Summit Group.
According to the World Bank, the new six-year framework is designed to create more and better private-sector jobs by strengthening Nigeria’s competitiveness, improving productivity and human capital, building resilience and attracting greater private investment into critical sectors.
Focus on Jobs, Private Investment and Infrastructure
The World Bank said its new approach will concentrate its resources on fewer areas capable of delivering large-scale and measurable results.
Key areas of intervention include distributed renewable energy, broadband infrastructure, access to finance for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), and sustainable agribusiness.
The framework targets a 30 per cent increase in Nigeria’s non-oil revenue-to-GDP ratio, while seeking to enable $6 billion in private capital and increase the number of SMEs using financial services by an additional 250,000.
Under the agriculture component, the World Bank plans to reach 9.5 million farmers through initiatives aimed at increasing productivity, strengthening value chains and improving connections to markets.
Health, Education and Social Protection
The human capital component of the framework includes ambitious targets for health, education and social protection.
The World Bank aims to provide 40 million people with quality health, nutrition and population services, while 19.4 million students are expected to benefit from improved education.
It also targets an eight-percentage-point reduction in the prevalence of stunting among children under five.
In addition, the framework seeks to extend social safety-net programmes to 41 million additional beneficiaries and strengthen the climate resilience of 11.7 million people.
$4.1bn Private Capital Mobilisation Target
A major component of the new strategy is increased collaboration between the World Bank, the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) to attract private-sector investment into Nigeria.
The framework includes a $750 million World Bank programme, alongside a $200 million IFC facility, aimed at expanding distributed renewable energy and improving electricity access.
It also includes a $500 million programme for resilient digital infrastructure and another $500 million pipeline programme focused on sustainable agricultural value chains.
Overall, the World Bank Group expects its interventions under the new framework to help mobilise $4.1 billion in private capital for infrastructure and agribusiness.
Digital Transformation and Energy Access
Broadband expansion is another major priority under the CPF, with the World Bank targeting 58 million additional Nigerians gaining access to broadband internet.
The institution said improved digital infrastructure would support economic participation, entrepreneurship, education and access to financial services.
The energy component, meanwhile, is expected to expand access to electricity through distributed renewable energy solutions, particularly in areas where conventional grid infrastructure remains limited.
Building on Existing Support
The 2026–2032 framework builds on the World Bank Group’s longstanding engagement with Nigeria.
According to the presentation, the previous Country Partnership Framework provided more than $12 billion in support for national programmes, with a significant emphasis on state-level and results-based financing.
The World Bank currently has an active $15.9 billion portfolio involving 30 projects in Nigeria.
About two-thirds of the portfolio is implemented through national programmes at the state level, while approximately half uses results-based financing.
The presentation also showed that the World Bank increased its average loan size from $415 million in 2021 to $580 million in 2025, while reducing the number of active projects from 36 to 30.
Focus Areas Through 2032
The new CPF identifies several pathways through which the World Bank intends to achieve its targets.
These include macroeconomic stability and governance, improving the business environment, early childhood development, social protection, human capital and skills development, digital transformation, power and energy access, climate resilience, agriculture and access to finance.
The World Bank said it would also maintain close engagement with Nigeria’s state governments while strengthening support for climate adaptation, gender-related interventions and communities affected by conflict.
At the centre of the new strategy is a stronger emphasis on job creation, private-sector-led growth and private capital mobilisation, with the World Bank aiming to direct its support towards interventions capable of producing measurable improvements in the lives and livelihoods of millions of Nigerians by 2032.
