The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) recently announced the notification of an additional $168.5 million in development assistance to Nigeria, a statement from the agency said on Monday.
It explained that the assistance was to continue support for the goals outlined in a 2015 bilateral agreement between the U.S. and Nigerian governments.
The latest funding increases the total U.S. assistance to the Nigerian people to $2.16 billion under the five-year Development Objectives Assistance Agreement (DOAG) signed between USAID and the Federal Ministry of Finance.
“With this notification, the United States deepens its commitment to Nigeria in meeting its development challenges.
“We will continue to support improved health, nutrition, economic growth, good governance, and human rights,” the USAID Acting Mission Director, Katie Donohoe, was quoted as saying in the statement.
The USAID noted that more than $115 million of the new funding would finance new and existing activities to improve public health in Nigeria.
Giving a breakdown of how the money would be spent, it noted that $40 million would be for maternal and child health, $28 million to control malaria, as well as ensure significant boosts in family planning, tuberculosis control, nutrition, and pandemic relief.
Another $32 million, according to the agency, will be for economic growth, including $19 million to help Nigeria increase agricultural productivity and access to nutritious foods, while $10.5 million for cleaner water, and $2 million to facilitate trade and investment.
A further breakdown of the figure indited that an additional $15.5 million in basic education funds would expand states’ abilities to provide early grade reading programmes and alternative education opportunities for out-of-school children and youth while addressing the marginalisation and educational needs of Nigeria’s hearing-impaired community.
According to USAID, $6 million will go towards new activities to strengthen human rights, civil society organisations, political competition and consensus-building, as well as reducing trafficking in persons.
