AGS NEWS – The World Bank has allocated $40 million to support health insurance and financial protection for poor and vulnerable Nigerians under a new health programme approved for the country.

The funding is part of the HOPE-Health Programme-for-Results (PforR), officially called Human Capital Opportunities for Prosperity and Equality – Health, which will run until June 30, 2029.

The programme was approved on September 26, 2024, and includes a $500 million loan from the International Development Association (IDA) and a $70 million grant from the Global Financing Facility.

The $40 million is tied to performance targets under a section of the programme that focuses on increasing financial protection through health insurance. The money will only be disbursed when specific results are achieved and verified by the Federal Government.

The financial protection funding is part of a larger effort—Result Area 2—which aims to improve access to essential health services. A total of $272.5 million has been committed to this result area.

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The HOPE-Health programme also supports other goals, including improving maternal and child health, expanding digital healthcare systems, deploying public health fellows to all 774 local governments, and strengthening federal and state health institutions.

The programme combines direct funding with technical assistance to build capacity in key health agencies like the National Primary Health Care Development Agency and the National Health Insurance Authority.

This initiative comes at a time when most Nigerians still pay for healthcare out of pocket. The $40 million is expected to ease that burden for the most vulnerable.

Meanwhile, the World Bank’s April 2025 Africa Pulse report warned that poverty in Nigeria is projected to rise by 3.6 percentage points by 2027, blaming falling oil prices and weak governance for the trend.

In a related effort, the Federal Government says it has scaled up its Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) programme. Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction, Professor Nentawe Yilwatda, revealed that six million Nigerians have benefited in the last six months—compared to just two million over the previous nine years.

He added that the goal is to reach 15 million Nigerians by October 2025, with improved digital tracking, e-wallets, and independent verification being used to ensure the transparency of the process.