The World Bank recently found $32 million missing from a Nigerian water project, according to its Sanctions System Annual Report for 2024.
Breaking down the missing money, $22 million needs to be returned by Nigeria’s Central Bank. Another $6 million was found sitting unused in a local account, which is enough to complete the project.
The World Bank believes this missing money might have been stolen and has taken steps with local officials to protect the remaining funds.
“INT followed up on risks identified regarding a project in Nigeria’s water sector and flagged to Operations the risk, which was associated with $32 million of unaccounted funds. INT met with the Task Team Leader, Operations Manager, Program Leader, and Financial Management Specialist to identify steps to reduce the risk of embezzlement”, the report states.
While the specific project wasn’t named, this seems to be part of a larger pattern of troubled water projects in Nigeria.
Take the 2021 project, for instance. The World Bank put $875 million toward improving water and sanitation in Nigerian cities and rural areas. But halfway through the six-year project, progress was rated as “moderately unsatisfactory” due to slow progress and poor management.
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Similar problems showed up in an older NUWSRP project from 2004 to 2014. The first part used $202 million and was rated poorly in 2017 because states weren’t running it well.
A World Bank-sponsored independent review found Nigerian states were moving too slowly. The review stated, “Reforms progressed slowly and there were often mixed signals communicated within states regarding the need to achieve cost recovery… Performance varied and was often due to a mix of factors including the placement of SWAs within the state civil services. This reduced accountability and empowerment. SWAs remained dependent on state governments in terms of financing throughout the project, and were unable to achieve self-sufficiency.”
The second part of NUWSRP, which focused on two states and received $210 million in funding, ran into corruption issues. In 2016, the World Bank flagged and barred a contractor for using fake certificates.
The third part started in 2014 with $250 million and also got poor ratings. According to the implementation report, the same old problems kept showing up: slow changes, weak leadership, complex financing, and lack of progress.
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