The National Universities Commission (NUC) and the World Bank have signed an additional $65 million financing agreement aimed at strengthening Nigerian universities and expanding professional training for about 24,000 Nigerians under the Sustainable Procurement, Environmental and Social Standards Enhancement (SPESSE) initiative.
The agreement, signed on Wednesday at the NUC headquarters in Abuja, brings new momentum to the SPESSE project, which initially commenced in 2021 with an $80 million World Bank facility designed to bridge critical skills gaps in procurement, environmental management, and social safeguards.
Stakeholders at the signing included representatives of participating universities, the World Bank, and the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP).
The Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission, Abdullahi Ribadu, said the additional funding would consolidate earlier gains and deepen institutional reforms across partner universities.
He said the intervention was designed to address persistent shortages of trained professionals in procurement, environmental governance, and social standards within Nigeria’s public and private sectors.
According to him, six Centres of Excellence have been established across the country under the programme, hosted by universities including Ahmadu Bello University and Lagos State University, alongside other institutions spread across the six geopolitical zones.
Ribadu noted that the centres have developed academic programmes ranging from short courses to postgraduate diplomas, master’s and undergraduate degrees, supported by upgraded digital infrastructure, including learning management systems and high-performance computing facilities.
He added that the initiative has also attracted international partnerships and foreign student enrolments, with more than 68 global collaborations already recorded across participating institutions.
“Since inception, we have strengthened teaching, research and learning systems, while also enabling resource verification that has allowed universities to mount new academic programmes in these specialised fields,” he said.
He disclosed that three of the six centres have commenced PhD programmes, while others are expected to begin in the 2026 academic session.
Ribadu further projected that the programme would produce at least 60 PhD graduates, facilitate student exchange programmes, and support staff internships, while also expanding international participation, including interest from The Gambia.
On governance reforms, he said certification frameworks had been developed in collaboration with the Bureau of Public Procurement, the Federal Ministry of Environment, and the Ministry of Women’s Affairs to standardise professional accreditation in the three thematic areas.
He added that the new funding phase would further support Nigeria’s transition toward an electronic procurement system, which is expected to enhance transparency and efficiency in public contracting.
Also speaking, the World Bank Task Team Leader for the project, Ishtiak Siddique, said the institution already had a $17 billion portfolio in Nigeria, describing SPESSE as one of its most impactful interventions due to its cross-sector relevance.
Siddique said over 40,000 participants had been trained under the first phase of the programme, while the new $65 million facility would enable an additional 24,000 Nigerians to benefit from structured capacity-building programmes.
He added that the next phase would deepen the deployment of digital procurement systems, incorporating emerging technologies such as machine learning and artificial intelligence to improve efficiency in public financial management.
Similarly, the Director-General of the Bureau of Public Procurement, Adebowale Adedokun, said more than 2,700 public officers and private sector participants had already been trained under the initiative.
He noted that the expanded programme would also support the rollout of an electronic procurement platform across federal institutions, with eventual extension to state governments, alongside online training opportunities for small and medium-scale enterprises.
Officials described the renewed financing as a strategic step toward strengthening governance systems, improving environmental compliance, and producing a new generation of professionals equipped to support Nigeria’s development priorities.
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