The World Bank has announced that the covid-19 action recovery and economic stimulus program aimed at improving the livelihood of poor Nigerians has been extended for another period of 12 months.
A representative and task team lead of the bank made the disclosure while speaking at a maiden ministerial town hall meeting for beneficiaries in Ibadan, the Oyo state capital.
The NG-Cares program is a world Bank support initiative aimed at responding to the covid-19 crisis by restoring their livelihoods on food security of poor and vulnerable households and promoting recovery of MSMEs in the
country.
To facilitate the smooth takeoff of the program, the federal government disbursed a one-off recoverable advance of 35.3 billion to all the 36 states and the FCT in March 2022.
Now, the federal government is holding a meeting with beneficiaries across the southwest and Kwara state to know how this program has impacted their lives.
In his address, the representative of World Bank announced that the program has been extended for another 12 months to allow the registration of more Nigerians below the poverty line.
Beneficiaries of the program who loaded the initiative believe that the intervention came at the appropriate time.
So far the program has produced results valued at 77.2 billion impacting over 2 million direct beneficiaries.