The Federal Executive Council has approved a loan application in the amount of $3.45 billion to finance the power and renewable energy sectors, as well as to extend the Adolescent Girls Initiative for Learning and Empowerment (AGILE) initiative.
Mr Wale Edun, Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, made the declaration following the Council Meeting on Monday in Abuja.
Mr. Edun added that these five loans have a term of 40 years and a moratorium period of ten years, with low interest rates.
The Minister noted that $700 million is expected to be spent on expanding the Adolescent Girls’ Initiative for Learning and Empowerment project, which is now being expanded to eleven other states. The Adolescent Girls Initiative for Learning and Empowerment (AGILE) Project aims to improve secondary education options for girls aged 10 to 20.
In his own words, “There was a project for adolescent girls’ initiative for learning and empowerment, essentially, as it says, it’s a program to support young girls from the age of 11, secondary school age, and to ensure that at the end of their schooling, they have one skill or the other that is marketable, as well as the academic laurels,”
Mr Edun further stated that a large chunk of the loan will be used to fund the Women’s Project, an extra initiative targeted at improving their skill levels and providing financial inclusion support.
According to him, the fifth financing was approved for the Women project, which is an additional project. The first one was a huge success.
It was all about empowering women, raising their skill levels, and, of course, providing financial inclusion, including access to the banking system.
