Nigeria launches $552 million education drive backed by World Bank

Nigeria has launched a $552 million basic education programme co-financed by ​the World Bank and the Global Partnership ‌for Education, President Bola Tinubu said on Thursday, to improve learning outcomes, widen access to schooling ​and strengthen the education system.

The HOPE-EDU programme ​will directly benefit about 29 million children, ⁠more than 500,000 teachers, 65,000 public ​schools and 10,000 non-formal learning centres nationwide, Tinubu ​said at the launch in Abuja.

The programme is one of five initiatives in place to speed up ​poverty reduction, human capital development, community growth, ​and strengthen healthcare.

"These programmes are not separate efforts; they are ‌one ⁠coordinated national strategy for poverty reduction, human capital development and community resilience," Tinubu said.

Tinubu, who is seeking re-election in January, has ​pursued Nigeria's biggest ​economic reforms ⁠in decades since taking office in 2023, scrapping costly fuel and ​electricity subsidies, devaluing the naira and ​overhauling ⁠the tax system to bolster public finances.

He said the initiatives would translate recent economic reforms ⁠into ​tangible gains in livelihoods, ​education, healthcare and social protection.

By Camillus Eboh, Reuters

Video - Nigeria’s AI pioneer builds a university for the future

Artificial intelligence is transforming industries around the world, from agriculture to healthcare, driving innovation and economic growth. In Nigeria, one young entrepreneur is embracing that future by founding a university dedicated entirely to AI, aiming to equip the next generation with the skills to lead the digital revolution.

CGTN Africa

Nigeria launches $500 million agriculture fund to transform oil-rich Niger Delta

Nigeria has unveiled a $500 million Niger Delta Agricultural Investment Fund, marking one of its biggest agriculture-focused investment initiatives as the government looks to diversify the economy beyond oil and strengthen food security.

Vice President Kashim Shettima announced the fund on Wednesday at the Niger Delta Agricultural Development and Investment Summit in Abuja, describing agriculture as a critical pillar of Nigeria's long-term economic transformation. The initiative is designed to increase food production, unlock private capital and position the oil-producing Niger Delta as a major agribusiness hub.

A commercial investment model

Unlike traditional government intervention programmes, the fund will operate as a commercial, returns-driven investment vehicle, financing projects across the agricultural value chain.

Investment will target high-potential sectors including aquaculture, palm oil, livestock, fisheries, marine resources and crop production. According to Shettima, financing will come from a mix of multilateral development institutions—including the World Bank, African Development Bank and Islamic Development Bank—alongside private investors. He did not disclose how much each institution would contribute or the fund's ownership structure.

Nigeria has been ramping up mechanisation efforts, including plans to deploy 10,000 tractors over five years to improve productivity. The government has also pursued international partnerships, including a $1 billion agriculture cooperation agreement with Brazil, aimed at expanding mechanised farming and agricultural infrastructure.

Why the Niger Delta matters

Although the Niger Delta has long powered Nigeria's economy through crude oil production, its vast agricultural potential has remained largely underdeveloped.

By attracting institutional investors and commercial capital into the region, the government hopes to create jobs, expand agricultural exports and reduce Nigeria's dependence on food imports. If successfully executed, the initiative could help reposition the Niger Delta from an oil-dependent economy to one of the country's most important food-production and agribusiness centres.

By Adekunle Agbetiloye, Business Insider Africa

Dozens of abducted schoolchildren and teachers rescued in Nigeria

Two months after they were abducted in southwestern Nigeria, dozens of students and teachers have been rescued, the presidency says.

In a statement on Friday, President Bola Tinubu said he was “profoundly happy” that Nigeria’s security agencies had rescued the students and teachers, 56 days after they were kidnapped from three schools in the southwestern state of Oyo.

Eight of the assailants have been arrested and an unspecified number have been killed, Tinubu added.

On May 15, 46 students and staff were kidnapped from two primary schools and one secondary school. The government has blamed the kidnappings on Boko Haram.

The youngest child taken was aged two, while the oldest was 16. One of the teachers was killed shortly after the abduction.

In a post on X, presidential spokesperson Bayo Onanuga said all of the students and teachers had been rescued.

School kidnappings have become common in Nigeria, as armed groups seek large ransoms from the government and citizens.

The situation has been worsened by a security crisis, partly fuelled by the Boko Haram rebellion in the country’s northeast. In 2024, gunmen earned more than $1.6m in ransom payments, according to SBM Intelligence.

“This successful military operation has ended the siege and standoff of over 50 days and has brought relief to the entire nation and the affected families in particular,” Tinubu said in his statement.

“On behalf of the country, I express my gratitude to the officers and men of our armed forces, the intelligence agencies and the police for the safe rescue of the children and their teachers.”

Prior to the May 15 attack, the majority of school kidnappings had taken place in northern Nigeria. The abductions in Oyo, in the southwest, have prompted concerns that the security crisis could be worsening.

It is not clear exactly how the students and staff were rescued, but Onanuga said there “was no quid pro quo in the rescue”.

Earlier this week, Defence Minister Christopher Musa said the assailants planned to use the hostages as leverage to pressure the government to release some of their commanders from prison.

Al Jazeera

Dangote begins pricing local fuel sales in dollars, citing crude supply constraints

Nigeria's Dangote Petroleum Refinery has begun pricing fuel products for the local market in U.S. dollars, ​with a company spokesperson on Tuesday citing difficulties securing ‌sufficient crude under the government's naira-for-crude programme and rising global oil prices.

The naira-for-crude programme, launched in October 2024, allowed domestic refiners to purchase ​crude in the local currency and reduced pressure on ​the foreign exchange market.

Africa's largest refinery, with a ⁠capacity of 700,000 barrels per day, has set the ex-depot ​price of petrol at $0.779 per litre, diesel at $1.087 per litre and ​aviation fuel at $0.942 per litre, according to a pricing template circulated to marketers.

Edwin Devakumar, vice president of the Dangote Group, said the refinery had ​been absorbing a currency mismatch by selling products in ​naira while sourcing crude in dollars, but limited crude supply under the naira-for-crude ‌programme ⁠had undermined the arrangement's viability.

Although state-owned oil company NNPC increased Dangote's allocation to seven cargoes in May from about five previously, the refiner has said it requires 13 to 15 cargoes ​a month and ​has been forced ⁠to import the remainder at international prices.

The decision could boost demand for dollars among fuel ​marketers and make domestic fuel prices more sensitive ​to ⁠exchange-rate fluctuations.

The sector regulator, the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Dangote has ⁠become ​a major local petrol supplier, helping ​to reduce the country's dependence on fuel imports, but has struggled to secure ​sufficient volumes in Nigeria.

By Isaac Anyaogu, Reuters