The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, says Nigeria ranks low in terms of the level of implementation of projects funded by the World Bank.
She, however, said there are plans by the Federal Government to improve the level of implementation of donour-financed projects in the country.
According to her, the implementation process is affected by challenges such as bureaucratic bottlenecks, capacity challenges, political interference, and obtaining varied and misaligned approvals processes between local authorities and development partners.
Ahmed disclosed these at a retreat for members of the National Assembly on process optimization in donor-financed projects in Nigeria.
The conference with theme, “Process optimisation in donor-financed projects in Nigeria,” is part of efforts to foster a new level of synergy and collaboration with the National Assembly to further accelerate the level of implementation of donor financed programmes and projects in Nigeria.
The minister said the need to organise the retreat is predicated on the government’s desire to deliver planned projects for sustained growth and national development.
One of the critical sources of funds for the execution of key projects in Nigeria is through donor financing, especially, from multilateral bodies such as the World Bank and the African Development Bank.
The minister while admitting the funding gap said that when borrowed funds were not properly utilised, growth was impaired and economic development distorted. “An in-depth review of the level of implementation of the entire development projects reveal that delays in the execution of donor-funded projects stems from factors including bureaucratic bottlenecks, capacity challenges, political interference and challenges associated with obtaining varied and misaligned approvals processes between our local authorities and development partners,” she said.