The Board of Executive Directors of the World Bank Thursday approved a 25 million U.S. dollar credit to provide additional funding for the Community Based Poverty Reduction Project (CPRP) in Nigeria.

The project, which aims to improve access for the poor to social and economic services and increase the availability and management of development resources at the community level, will be implemented in eight states in the Western African country.

The supplemental credit, which is for two years and will close on Aug. 31, 2008, will ensure the completion of about 600 community-based poverty reduction micro-projects that are currently underway.

The funding will also help maintain the momentum of the Community-driven development approach in the country until a nationwide community development project, currently under preparation by the Federal Government, begins.

"The additional funding will continue to support government efforts to empower communities to become agents and beneficiaries of change to improve the lives of their citizens," said Foluso Okunmadewa, the World Bank Task Team Leader of the project.

The additional financing will address unmet demands and requests from community groups for micro-projects in virtually all the states currently implementing the CPRP, which was approved in 2000 for 60 million dollars.

Source: Xinhua