Jane Salihu
No fewer than 24,000 Nigerians are expected to benefit from a fresh $65 million financing package approved by the World Bank under the Sustainable Procurement, Environmental and Social Standards Enhancement (SPESSE) project, the National Universities Commission (NUC) has said.
The new funding phase was formally launched on Wednesday in Abuja with the signing of performance contracts by participating institutions and stakeholders.
The SPESSE initiative is a flagship capacity-building programme of the Federal Government, supported by the World Bank, to develop skilled professionals in procurement, environmental management and social standards across both the public and private sectors.
Speaking at the ceremony, the Executive Secretary of the NUC, Professor Abdullahi Yusuf Ribadu, said the additional financing would consolidate achievements recorded under the project’s initial $80 million phase, which began in 2021.
According to him, the programme was conceived to address Nigeria’s shortage of qualified professionals in critical governance areas, particularly public procurement, environmental safeguards and social standards.
“With the support of the World Bank and under the coordination of the NUC, six Centres of Excellence were established across the six geopolitical zones to provide sustainable capacity building in these critical sectors,” Ribadu said.
He explained that the host universities were selected through a competitive process that assessed institutional capacity, sustainability plans and quality assurance mechanisms.
Ribadu disclosed that three of the six centres have already commenced PhD programmes, while the remaining centres are expected to begin doctoral training by July 2026.
Under the additional financing, the centres are expected to produce at least 60 PhD graduates, enrol 60 international students, facilitate staff internships and expand student exchange programmes with foreign universities.
The new phase will also support the development of Open and Distance Learning facilities, stronger Management Information Systems, and enhanced collaboration with industry and global partners to ensure the centres become financially and institutionally self-sustaining.
Director-General of the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP), Adebowale Adedokun, said the project has already trained more than 2,700 officers from public and private organisations to improve procurement competence nationwide.
He noted that the next phase would support the rollout of Nigeria’s electronic government procurement system and broaden access to online training for policymakers and small businesses involved in public finance management.
Also speaking, the World Bank Task Team Leader for SPESSE, Ishtiak Siddique, said the project’s first phase had reached over 40,000 participants, with more than 4,000 earning professional certifications in procurement, environmental and social standards.
Siddique said the new financing would place greater emphasis on strengthening the capacity of federal, state and local government institutions to improve service delivery and development outcomes.
The additional $65 million credit, approved by the World Bank in July 2025, raises the total value of the SPESSE project to $145 million.
NUC officials said the expanded investment underscores growing confidence in the project’s impact and its role in improving governance standards, procurement systems and institutional performance across Nigeria.
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