The Delta State government has applauded the World Bank and the Federal Government for their support in the commission of the Action Recovery and Economic Stimulus Programme (NG-CARES) in the state.
Secretary to the State government (SSG), Mr. Patrick Ukah, made the recognition when he received the World Bank Team in Nigeria and the State Committee on NG-CARES led by the Commissioner for Economic Planning, Dr. Barry Gbe, on a courtesy visit, to Asaba.
The NG-CARES is mainly focused on the vulnerable and the poor in rural communities with a mission to ease their plights in the areas of health, education, nutrition, and other economic needs.
Ukah revealed that the state had continued to benefit from the robust alliance and support of the World Bank, particularly in the areas of public financial reforms and social intervention programs.
He noted that the state was very appreciative of the World Bank and the Federal Government support so far, saying the program could not have come at a better time to provide the much-needed support to cushion the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic that shattered the world.
Ukah revealed that Governor Ifeanyi Okowa was thrilled by the implementation of the CARES Programme in the state, hence he approved the sum of N2.499 billion to fund the activities in March this year under the ‘Result Area 1 and 2’ of the program in addition to the World Bank advance of N1.1 billion.
He said, “To underscore the government’s commitment to the CARES programs in the state, the sum of N998 million was approved for the implementation of the Micro and Small Enterprises (MSEs) (Result Area 3) component of the program, out of which a substantial amount was released to the Delta State Micro, Small and Medium Scale Enterprises Development Agency.”
“This culminated in the flag-off of the disbursement of the grants to 1,818 MSEs by Governor Okowa in September 2021.”
“The World Bank advance was immediately released to the Programme’s Delivery Platforms, and they have made remarkable progress towards achieving expected milestones
“And to show further commitment to the success of the program, Okowa, during the flag off of the Result Area 1&2 of the program in August 2022, expressly directed that the outstanding sums for the program be released to the Delivery Platforms for the CARES program implementation.”
Initially, the World Bank team led by a Specialist of NG-CARES, World Bank Country Office, Abuja, Prof. Foluso Okunmadewa, said the implementation of the program was the Federal Government’s endeavor with support from the World Bank to mitigate the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic as well as the poor in the country.
Okunmadewa, who placed Delta State in the “First Class Cabinet of the Delivery Platforms”, declared that the program was designed in such a way that the state would spend its own money in the first batch before being refunded after proper verification and validation.
Revealing that, “This is what we call prior results. When the independent verification agents go there, they will count the results that they have achieved along with the ones that they are going to achieve. It is a collaboration between the World Bank, the Federal Government, and the 36 state governments,”
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