A total of $4.51bn has been disbursed to Nigeria by the International Development Association to meet the country’s developmental needs.

Information obtained by our correspondent from the World Bank’s website on Friday also revealed that a total of $408.46m as at February 29 had been disbursed to Nigeria as loans.

The data revealed that a total of $4.51bn IDA loans had been disbursed for developmental purposes while $2.42bn was still undisbursed.

The IDA credits are public and publicly guaranteed debt extended by the World Bank Group. IDA provides development credits, grants and guarantees to its recipient member countries to help meet their development needs. Credits from IDA are at concessional rates; these include credits that have not been fully repaid, terminated or cancelled.

However, with developmental credits and loans received from agencies, poverty has remained high in Nigeria with over 150 million still living in abject poverty.

Statistics from the bank showed that 68 per cent of the Nigerian population live on less than $1.25 per day. The figure which was based on 2010 survey, rose by 4.9 per cent from 63.1 per cent recorded in 2004, showing that poverty has continued to increase in the country.

Meanwhile, the World bank, in its report on world development indicators, released on Thursday said that fewer people lived in extreme poverty, though poverty and hunger persisted.

It said, “The proportion of people living on less than $1.25 a day fell from 43.1 per cent in 1990 to 22.2 per cent in 2008. And preliminary estimates for 2010 indicate that the extreme poverty rate fell further, reaching the global target of halving world poverty five years early.

“The proportion of people in developing countries with access to an improved water source increased from 71 per cent in 1990 to 86 per cent in 2008, which means that the millennium development goals target of halving proportion of the population without access has already been met. Some goals still remain out of reach. Only one region, Latin America and the Caribbean, will reduce child mortality by two-thirds.

It pointed out that in sub-Saharan Africa; only two countries (Madagascar and Malawi) were on track to reach the target in 2015.

It said, “Africa is urbanising rapidly. In 2010, only 37 per cent of sub-Saharan Africa’s population lived in urban areas, but between 1990 and 2010 the urban growth rate of four per cent per year was the highest among developing regions. People in the developing countries of Europe and Central Asia have greater access to commercial bank branches and automated teller machines than people in other developing regions with about 18 commercial bank branches per 100,000 adults and 45 ATMs per 100,000 adults.”

Source: Punch/Ademola Alawiye