Activities under the strategic clusters of the CPS are being implemented as envisaged, although at a slower pace due to the elections and other factors noted earlier. The knowledge program has made significant contributions to the policy dialogue and to implementation of the reform agenda.
Within the three strategic clusters, two outcomes are achieved, while eight out of seventeen outcomes are on track. Out of total thirty eight indictors, seven are fully achieved while nine are on track. The Annex 3 details progress achieved on each outcome.
9.CPS Cluster 1: Federally-led Structural Reform Agendas for Growth and Jobs
This cluster seeks to foster diversified growth and job creation by addressing the key constraints of power sector and access to finance; and by targeting agriculture as one of the key drivers of the economy.
Power sector – The progress has been varied. Parallel to positive institutional and policy initiatives such as successful unbundling and privatization of utilities, there are still challenges such as the sufficiency of gas supply to increase power generation, the scaling-up investment in the transmission and distribution networks, and pending decisions regarding (a) the commercial framework for gas-to-power; (b) the governance and ownership structure of the transmission network; and (c) support to the privatized distribution sector to ensure financial viability in the overall sector value chain. These shortcomings are reflected in the progress towards achieving the CPS outcomes. While the outcomes related to increasing transmission capacity and reducing losses of privatized distribution companies are on track, there has been no progress in increasing generation capacity mainly due to delays in executing guarantees in support of gas agreements. Given delays in decision making regarding the transmission network, delivery of the proposed Transmission Project (US$364 million) has been postponed to FY17. The Federal High Court recently annulled the recent end user tariff increase, which is likely to hamper further progress in this outcome area. After a delayed start, the Lighting Africa Nigeria Program is now accelerating; it has reached about 14 million people through consumer education campaigns with the goal to expand the retail channel for off-grid solar products and facilitate access to consumer loans for purchase of solar lanterns/home systems through microfinance institutions (MFIs).
Financing for development – There has been little progress. The macroeconomic climate has hampered IFC progress on loans available to MSMEs with the exception of providing financial services to micro-entrepreneurs12. Bureaucratic delays in making the DFP fully operational have delayed the start of delivering critical financial support to the MSMEs at a time of increasing economic hardship. Though project implementation has recently gained in momentum, the targeted increase in long term financing to private sector will be achieved only during the next CPF. In the context of a joint the Bank-IFC approach to affordable housing, IFC will complement the Bank’s support to the National Mortgage Refinancing Company (NMRC) through technical assistance. The IDA supported Housing Finance project, which is facing challenges associated with weakened demand due to the ongoing economic crisis, is not likely to achieve the targeted increase in the share of housing loans in the financial sector by the end of this CPS.
Agriculture/Climate resilience – The progress has been mixed. Fadama 3, Commercial Agriculture Development Project (CADP), and West Africa Agriculture Productivity Project (WAAPP) have supported farmers’ access to improved technology and markets as well as facilitated aggregation of agricultural products and farmers’ linkages to off-takers through horizontal coordination of framers. The WAAP supported adoption of early maturing and drought-resistant crop varieties, water management technologies and green energy (biogas). The First Agriculture Development Policy Operation (DPO) supported the establishment of the Environment and Climate Change Unit within the Federal Ministry of Environment and the preparation and adoption of a National Agriculture Resilience Framework to strengthen the enabling environment for effective coordination of climate smart investment. The First Agriculture DPO also helped to strengthen the policy environment and institutional capacity to enhance agricultural productivity and market access among farmers13. Less progress has been achieved in improving irrigation and connectivity of rural roads, in part due to security challenges in some of the areas where the CPS program is implemented. IDA support to enhancing Nigeria’s preparedness to respond to natural hazards, climate risks and natural disasters suffered from implementation delays under the NEWMAP. Concerning the planned lending program, Staple Crop Zone Processing Project (SCZP) (US$200 million) has been delayed to FY17 due to the political transition and disengagement of the anchor private sector agro-processor, while the planned lending support to climate change/disaster risk management agenda will need to be confirmed and defined in dialogue with the new GoN.
10.CPS Cluster 2: Quality, Effectiveness, and Efficiency of Social Services Delivery at the State Level for Greater Social Inclusion
Progress under this cluster has been more pronounced. The CPS outcome for increasing access of poor and vulnerable to social and economic services has already been achieved. Similarly, all but one outcome related to improved coverage and quality of health service delivery are achieved. The program is on track to achieve the targeted results for improved learning environment and management, learning outcomes, and strengthened responsiveness of public and private training institutions to skill demands. Strides have been made in embedding institutional strengthening in sector engagements. Creation of a Unified Registry of Beneficiaries under the Youth Employment and Social Support Operation will help improve targeting of the poor. Health centers benefiting from the results-based financing support in three states are demonstrating improvements in most indices. Yet, as was the case in earlier CPSs, the program continues to experience challenges in improving efficiency of water supply networks.
IFC’s work on health regulatory reform, and investments in innovative education and training delivery has proven fruitful. On the back of a broad advisory program through Health in Africa14 and emerging investment prospects, IFC expects to deepen its engagement in private health delivery moving forward. The recent investment in Hygeia Nigeria Limited, the country’s leading private healthcare company, will lead to construction of a new private hospital adding 100 beds to complement the public healthcare system. IFC investments in Bridge International Academy helped set up five institutions in low income areas of Lagos15. IFC’s investments in Andela contributed to increased youth training programs in software development space, improving the responsiveness of private training institutions to skill demands.
Progress under this cluster has been mixed. There has been no progress in improving statistical capacity as the dialogue on a proposed statistics operation has been stalled by the political transition. Key results of support to twenty one states in PFM and economic governance include: (a) harmonization of the budget, accountingand reportingclassification methodologies across an increasing number of states; (b) linking budgets to sector strategies in six states, although the reliability of these linkages is unclear in the absence of realistic costing of the strategies that feed into the budgets; (c) improved timeliness in producing fiscal and financial reports across all states, although much remains to be done to streamline audit methods and reporting quality consistent with the standards of the International Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions; (d) slow but steady progress towards improved cash management systems; (e) strong progress in deploying Integrated Financial Management Information System across the federal government and an increasing number of states; and (f) enactment of laws across states to facilitate improved financial management. With the growing fiscal pressures on state governments, the activities under this cluster are gaining momentum.
The Bank has continued to support the Nigerian Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI). Prior to October 2015, when NNPC began publishing monthly financial and operational performance reports, NEITI’s audit reports were the only source of detailed information on analysis of oil and gas data submitted by oil companies. To date, however, NEITI has not been able to publish audit reports within two years by the end of each FY (maximum amount of time allowed for publication) in part because its board – which needs to approve the audit reports before they can be published – was dissolved in July 2015 and not reconstituted until February 2016. The long delay in publication have prevented NEITI from contributing to investigations into allegations of billions of dollars missing from the oil sector. The new requirement for transparency in NNPC underscores the need for timely publication of audit reports in order for NEITI to have an impact on sector governance.
Gender as a cross-cutting theme. Measures have been taken to mainstream gender dimensions in new operations by applying a gender filter. It highlights issues to be taken into account during project design to ensure that women are further empowered or not disadvantaged. The Gender Dimension in Agriculture Policy Brief identified obstacles that women face in agriculture, and helped inform the design of Fadama 3 Additional Financing (AF) by specifically identifying female farmers as one group of targeted beneficiaries. The Rural Access Mobility Project 2 provides women in project areas with employment opportunities through minor road works. In collaboration with partners such as United Nations (UN) Women and DFID, the Bank has also provided support to mobilize the Gender Equality Community of Practice for Finance Ministers in Africa.
12.Knowledge Program
The knowledge program was designed to contribute to the policy dialogue around Nigeria’s development challenges and provide a platform for engagement with the new authorities in the following areas:
Influencing policy dialogue and the reform agenda. The Jobs Report (2015) recommended that in order to create an inclusive jobs market offering gainful employment to women and youth, Nigeria needs to improve skills, enhance agricultural productivity and improve its business climate. The Gas Sector Policy Note (2015) provided timely and cutting-edge knowledge to the new GoN to help inform its strategy for the gas sector. The Nigeria Economic Report (2015) focused on the macroeconomic situation, including an analysis of fuel subsidies. Other knowledge work carried out in 2015 included the Financial Inclusion Report; Assessment of the Investment Climate in Nigeria; State Water Agencies in Nigeria: A Performance Assessment; Skills for Competitiveness and Employability; Governance and Financing of Basic Education in Nigeria; and Urbanization Report.
Analyzing situational factors affecting reforms. In addition to regular learning through Implementation Status Reports (ISRs) and Implementation Completion Reports (ICRs), the Bank-prepared case studies have helped to deepen our understanding about what works in the Nigerian context (see Annex 5 for more details).
Understanding conflict and its impact.The ongoing North Policy Dialogue Advisory Services and Analytics (ASA), supported by DFID, and the recently completed West Africa Lake Chad Basin Forced Displacement report helped to inform the Bank’s understanding of drivers and impact of conflict in Northern Nigeria and the Lake Chad Basin.