The World Bank has approved an additional $65 million credit for Nigeria under the Sustainable Procurement, Environmental, and Social Standards Enhancement (SPESSE) project, raising the total funding to $145 million.
According to information obtained by Naijaonpoint from the website of the World Bank, the approval was granted on June 24, 2025—six days earlier than the previously scheduled date of June 30.
The project status has since been updated to “active,” and the World Bank confirmed it has reached the “Bank Approved” stage.
The SPESSE project was initially launched in 2021, backed by an $80 million loan approved in February 2020. It aims to build lasting institutional capacity for managing procurement, environmental, and social standards across Nigeria’s public and private sectors.
The new financing will support the national rollout of the Electronic Government Procurement (e-GP) platform. This digital system is expected to streamline procurement processes, reduce delays, and enhance transparency in public spending.
According to the World Bank, in a document released earlier on the additional financing, “The AF will maintain the PDO of the parent project without any change. The project development objective is to develop sustainable capacity in managing procurement, environment, and social standards in the public and private sectors.”
The funds will also scale up training and certification programmes to professionalise Nigeria’s procurement workforce. While over 33,000 individuals have been trained under the initial phase of the project, more than 25,000 public officers are still targeted for training, based on government assessments.
While the original SPESSE credit will close by June 30, 2026, the additional funding is expected to remain in use until June 30, 2029.
“The parent credit will be closed on June 30, 2026, without any extension; however, the AF is proposed to be closed on June 30, 2029,” the World Bank stated in a document.
The new loan adds to Nigeria’s growing debt stock with the World Bank. As of March 2025, total outstanding debt to the institution stood at $18.23 billion, up from $17.81 billion in December 2024 and $15.45 billion a year earlier.