General
World Bank Disburses N35.3bn to 36 States for NG-CARES
By Adedapo Adesanya
The World Bank said it has disbursed the sum of N35.3 billion to all the 36 states of the federation and the FCT as an advance payment for the implementation of the Nigeria COVID-19 Action Recovery and Economic Stimulus Programme (NG-CARES).
This disclosure was made by the Lead Specialist, World Bank Country Office, Abuja, Mr Foluso Okunmadewa at the 1st Implementation Support Mission for NG-CARES on Tuesday in Ikeja, Lagos.
He said that the programme was organised for the World Bank, the federal government and state delegates who would be participating in the implementation of the programme with Lagos as the host state.
Mr Okunmadewa, also the Task Team Leader, NG-CARES, World Bank, Abuja, said that all the 36 states were running the programme and had become effective in every state.
He added that the World Bank’s teams were in Lagos, Enugu, Yola, Birnin-Kebbi, adding that all the 36 states are participating in the implementation mission this week.
He added that the team had started going round all the 36 states for this particular mission to help them as they start the implementation process.
NG-CARES is a $750 million intervention programme that started running in 2021 and would end in 2023.
It is a collaboration between the World Bank, the Federal Government and the 36 state governments.
According to him, the total allocation to each state of the federation is the equivalent of $20 million but it is result-based financing, so the money is not given to the state upfront.
“But because most states do not have enough resources to start the intervention, advance money was given to the states.
“Advance were given to the states at a different amount ranging from $500 million to $1.3 billion in some cases.
“A total of N35.3 billion has been disbursed as of yesterday (Monday) to all the 36 states of the federation and the FCT as advance.
“It is hoped that by the next six months when the World Bank must have verified the results from the states, the second disbursement will take place and the advance will be recovered.
“Lagos state is among the best, It got N900 million,” he said.
Mr Okunmadewa said that NG-CARES was set up to alleviate the impacts of COVID-19 on livelihood, welfare, food supply system, the informal sector and the local economy.
He noted that due to the pandemic, many people became poor while others became poorer.
“It’s true that when COVID-19 pandemic was rampant, people recognised its immediate impact on their lives and also recognised that it was affecting livelihood.
“Even now that the effects on lives, sickness and all other things may have subsided, the impacts it had to have on livelihood, on the level of welfare of people, on food and supply system, impact on the informal sector, local economy, are still there.
“Those impacts need to be alleviated in a way.
“People who were poor before COVID-19 became poorer, people who were not poor before the pandemic became poor. Now there is no doubt that they needed to be supported,” he noted.
The team leader said that the World Bank had adopted a performance-based-financing approach that would ensure that the support gets to the average Nigerians who are really in need of the intervention.
He noted that unless and until the government itself works with the people that really need this assistance and provides them with the assistance upfront; the outcome and the output are verified, the refinancing from the World Bank would not come.
“The finances follow the results, it does not follow the activities, it does not follow training and capacity building.
“It actually follows the number of farmers that have been assisted, the number of poor households that have been given social transfers, the number of local enterprises, micro and small scales that have been facilitated and recovered.
“Based on that, the government is now giving the resources, it is result-based financing and on that bases, the monitoring is implicit and I must say that all the 36 state governments of Nigeria, including the FCT, have bought into this approach.
He said that it was left for the states to actually decide the beneficiaries of the intervention, adding that it is not decided by the World Bank or any federal institutions.
“Each state looks at the poor amongst their people, the people who actually need the assistance and they are the ones they give it to.
“There is no way to circumvent it more so that independent verification agents are then going to go out, third party monitoring is going to talk to the beneficiaries who received it.
“The state government knows that if they give it out to those that do not need it, and verification and monitoring agents say so, the state will not receive the resources for it,” he said.
On the part of the host state, the Lagos State Commissioner for Budget and Physical Planning, Mr Sam Egube, said that the state was participating in all interventions that suit it and that would alleviate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on its citizenry.
He noted that the total budget is about 20 million dollars per state and the FCT and a total of 750 million dollars nationwide.
He said the introduction of the NG-CARES by the Federal Government and an initiative that had been supported by the World Bank to mitigate the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic was a welcome development.
He added that the state government had put in place the necessary machinery that would ensure smooth implementation of the intervention in accordance with the dictate of the operational manual.
“As a demonstration of our commitment, Mr Governor has approved the deployment of existing platforms and MDAs with good track records to deliver on the programmes’ result areas and the disbursement link indicators.
“They are: the Ministry of Women Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, the Ministry of Wealth Creation, Office of the Sustainable Development Goals and they are to handle cash transfer, basic services and livelihood supports.
“FADAMA project in the Ministry of Agriculture will work on food security and safe functioning of food supply chain while the Lagos State Employment Trust Fund will be facilitating, recovering and enhancing the capabilities of MSMEs.
Mr Egube said that the Lagos State Government had received N900 million as an advance payment for the implementation of NG-CARES as of March 7.
“Lagos will be intervening in the agricultural programme, training people in farming skills and in the management of farm business, cash transfers that will be happening and several interventions that are humanitarian in nature that will be happening.”
Also, the State Commissioner for Finance, Mr Rabiu Olowo, said that Lagos was ready for the implementation of the NG-CARES.
Mr Olowo noted that the implementation of the project was solely the responsibility of the Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning.
He added that the Ministry of Finance would facilitate the disbursements of funds for the smooth implementation of the project.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Lagos State Government has expressed its readiness to get a brand-new Building Code next year, to achieve the high-performance standards needed to make Lagos a sustainable and Smart City.
The government’s readiness was disclosed at the Lagos State Executive Council Retreat on the Domestication of the Lagos Building Code, organised by the Office of the Special Adviser on e-GIS and Urban Development, held at Ikeja GRA on Wednesday.
Speaking during the retreat, Lagos State Governor, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu emphasised the need for more collaboration among all the ministries and agencies in the built sector, to ensure the state development in line with global best practices.
He said the motive behind the Lagos Building Code is to have a building regulation that would make Lagos much more resilient.
“We (Lagos State Government) are the first to domesticate the National Building Code, which is the creation of the Federal Government. We are not doing anything outside the vision at the sovereign and sub-sovereign levels. But what is unique about our own is the fact that all the cabinet members see the need to have an input because it would be an outcome that would affect lives and different ministries and agencies.
“So, there is a need for everybody to have a say, and at the end of the day, collectively we will resolve to have a way.
“What we are trying to do is for Lagos State to do what is obtainable internationally: have a building regulation in which we have a standard of construction in design, manner of land use occupancy, and use of building materials, which we believe would eventually improve and help with health, safety, and occupancy issues.
“It is all about building sustainably, making Lagos a lot more resilient and able to absorb shock in the future and able to stand in the comity of developed cities and city-states as we see in various parts of the world,” he said.
The Special Adviser to the Governor on eGIS and Urban Development, Mr Olajide Babatunde, stated that the Lagos Building Code is to complement the existing regulatory framework and provide a comprehensive solution to the challenges of land use, physical development, and urban planning.
Mr Babatunde said the Lagos Building Code will regulate building control, planning permission, and address the issues of setbacks; take care of the safety and sustainability of the environment; and also prevent the collapse of buildings.
“We have been working on the domestication of the National Building Code, and by next year, we are going to have our own brand-new Lagos Building Code. We have worked with professional bodies and people from academia, market women, and the public in general, and through a participatory approach, we can come out with a document that is acceptable to everyone and useful to the entire state,” he said.
Also speaking, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Infrastructure, Mr Olufemi Daramola, described the Lagos State Building Code initiative by the Babajide Sanwo-Olu administration as the next step to Green Lagos that will enable the state to plan buildings properly and ensure durable infrastructure in the state.
During the retreat, members of the Lagos State Executive Council brainstormed and advocated aggressive sensitisation for residents of the State on the Lagos Building Code before implementation.
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
A report released by Spotify has revealed that in 2024, Apostle Femi Lazarus was the most streamed podcast on its platform, closely followed by Motivation Daily by Motiversity.
Podcasts are one of Africa’s favourite ways to tell stories. With almost 4 billion minutes of podcast audio played in Sub-Saharan Africa in 2024, the continent’s appetite for this content is loud and clear.
South Africa, Nigeria, and Kenya listened to the most shows this year, with South Africa contributing over 2 billion minutes. If you started playing podcasts on one device today, it would make for about 30 centuries of listening.
“The numbers don’t lie. Podcasting is here to stay because it lets creators take control of their narratives and tell these stories on their terms while bringing their community along for the journey,” the Sub-Saharan Africa Podcast Manager for Spotify, Ncebakazi Manzi, stated.
Motivational shows around issues like managing finances, relationships, personal goals and health remain popular across the three leading countries. Shows like “The Diary Of A CEO with Steven Bartlett”, “Motivation Daily by Motiversity” and “The Success Addicted Podcast” have attracted listeners who want to get their lives in order and learn from the stories of inspirational people.
Audiences in Nigeria and South Africa embrace shows about spirituality. “Christian Motivation” had one of the most shared episodes in South Africa while “Apostle Joshua Selman” maintained his popularity in Nigeria for another year. As the continent’s second-largest podcast market, Nigeria listened to 700 million minutes in 2024 and it created half of the new shows published in Sub-Saharan Africa this year.
Even though spirituality dominated Nigeria’s top charts, the continued popularity of shows like “I Said What I Said” and “The HonestBunch Podcast” tell us that listeners also want conversation-style shows. Listeners in Kenya and South Africa also showed an affinity toward these shows.
A good laugh with friends
The “ShxtsnGigs” podcast, an opinion show hosted by two best friends James and Fuhad, tapped into audiences’ hunger for conversational shows. The humorous podcast has made its way to the top charts in six of the top 10 podcast-playing African countries. In Kenya, The 97s Podcast has been inspired by this approach where funny and frank chats between hosts Trevor, Frank and Dante have led the podcast to take the number-one spot in the country for the first time.
Kenya’s broader listening data shows that relationships are a meaningful taking point. Seven of the 10 most shared episodes in the country discuss love, sex lives and dating. Julia Gaitho’s “So This Is Love” holds three out of the top five most shared podcast episodes in the country. Her interviews resonated because she draws lessons from her guest’s stories about lost lovers.
Some listeners just wanted to laugh through the pain. Ensemble shows like “Mic Cheque Podcast” and “The Sandwich Podcast” made Kenyans feel like they were hanging out with a close circle of friends. When difficult topics come up, moments of infectious laughter help lighten the mood.
Women creators like Murugi Munyi, Julia Gaitho, Sharon Machira and Lydia K.M. take this comedic approach to a new level on shows like “The Messy Inbetween” and ‘It’s Related, I Promise’. This genre contributed heavily to the country’s 400 million podcast minutes streamed in 2024.
Below are the most streamed and shared podcasts for the year;
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TOP STREAMED PODCASTS IN SOUTH AFRICA |
TOP STREAMED PODCASTS IN NIGERIA |
TOP STREAMED PODCASTS IN KENYA |
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2. Motivation Daily by Motiversity 3. Success Addicted Podcast with the voice of Earl Nightingale ; Napoleon Hill ; Jim Rohn and many more |
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TOP SHARED PODCAST EPISODES IN SOUTH AFRICA |
TOP SHARED PODCAST EPISODES IN KENYA |
TOP SHARED PODCAST EPISODES IN NIGERIA |
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By Dipo Olowookere
A $15 million debt facility has been obtained by Watt Renewable Corporation from the AfriGreen Debt Impact Fund to finance hybrid solar power plants to be built and operated by the former, especially in Nigeria.
WATT intends to use the projects to serve commercial and industrial clients in Nigeria, particularly in the telecommunication and financial services sectors.
By integrating solar hybrid solutions, the firm aims to significantly reduce diesel consumption and CO2 emissions, enabling its clients to achieve substantial energy cost savings while promoting environmental sustainability.
As a pioneer in renewable energy solutions, WATT continues to drive innovation in Nigeria’s energy sector.
The company’s robust roll-out plan includes deploying hundreds of hybrid solar power sites nationwide to meet the growing energy demands of commercial & industrial clients.
This strategic expansion aligns with WATT’s vision to revolutionize energy access across Africa, enabling sustainable development and reducing reliance on fossil fuels.
The funds from AfriGreen provide the critical capital needed to accelerate WATT’s ambitious projects, strengthening its market position and empowering businesses with reliable and affordable energy solutions.
Business Post gathered that to mitigate the currency risk for WATT in the event of devaluation of the Nigerian Naira, AfriGreen is offering a local currency facility that matches the payment structure of the power purchase agreements.
“We are thrilled to partner with AFRIGREEN on this transformative journey to expand reliable and sustainable energy solutions across Africa.
“With this support, it enables us to accelerate our shared mission of providing hybrid solar power to businesses, reducing carbon emissions, and supporting economic growth while enhancing energy security for our clients,” the Managing Director of WATT, Mr Oluwole Eweje, said.
“We are delighted to support WATT in rolling out hundreds of hybrid sites across the country.
“This represents another key transaction for AFRIGREEN in Nigeria. The combination of high energy prices, good solar irradiation, and strong demand from industrial and commercial energy users makes this market particularly attractive for companies like WATT.
“By leveraging these favourable market conditions alongside WATT’s exceptional operational performance and a well-structured financing solution, we are setting the stage for a strong and lasting business partnership,” the Managing Director of AfriGreen, Mr Alexandre Gilles, stated.
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