Nigeria in talks with World Bank for $65m to boost procurement reform and social standards project, raising total SPESSE funding to $145m by June 2025

FG seeks extra $65m from the World Bank to scale up its Sustainable Procurement, Environmental, and Social Standards Enhancement (SPESSE) project, a reform initiative already credited with modernising public procurement processes in Nigeria.

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If approved, the new financing will increase the project’s total funding to $145m, according to fresh details .

Initial funding of $80m was approved by the World Bank in February 2020, with the project taking effect in March 2021.

Since then, over 33,000 individuals have received training in procurement and environmental and social (E\&S) practices.

The project is focused on building institutional capacity and promoting compliance with global standards, especially across Nigeria’s public and private sectors.

The new $65m funding round, expected to be finalised by June 30, 2025, will maintain the original development objectives, with a broader push towards sustainability. According to the World Bank,

“The project development objective is to develop sustainable capacity in managing procurement, environment, and social standards in the public and private sectors.”

Part of the additional funding will go into establishing a nationwide Electronic Government Procurement (e-GP) system.

This platform is designed to enhance transparency, curb delays, and promote inclusive procurement by providing access to small businesses, especially those led by women.

The scale-up also includes certification programmes to strengthen Nigeria’s professional workforce in public procurement.

A recent survey revealed that more than 25,000 government staff still require structured training, underscoring the critical need for expanded capacity development.

While the parent credit will end by June 2026, the additional financing is scheduled to close on June 30, 2029.

This timeline is expected to allow for a deeper institutionalisation of reform and broader reach across ministries, departments and agencies.

However, Nigeria’s rising debt to the World Bank raises questions about sustainability. According to the Debt Management Office, Nigeria’s total debt to the World Bank reached $17.81bn by the end of 2024, accounting for 38.9 per cent of the country’s total external debt. This is a significant rise from $15.45bn in 2023.

Of this figure, $16.56bn is owed to the International Development Association (IDA), while $1.24bn is from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD).

Within Nigeria’s multilateral obligations, the World Bank now holds nearly 80 per cent.

Despite these figures, government officials and development experts say the SPESSE project remains vital to tackling inefficiency, boosting transparency, and empowering institutions in a country still struggling with procurement-related corruption and poor service delivery.

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The push for extra funding signals the Federal Government’s continued commitment to procurement reform, even as it grapples with broader fiscal challenges.