By Vivienne Russell | 28 February 2013

The African Development Bank has today approved a $300m loan to Nigeria to support its public financial management reforms, including the adoption of International Public Sector Accounting Standards.

Other financial programmes that will benefit from the loan include Nigeria’s Internal Audit Modernisation Plan, Government Integrated Public Financial Management, and Transparency and Compliance in Procurement and Audit Practices.

The bank said the loan formed an ‘integral part of a broader set of interventions… designed to support Nigeria’s Transformation Agenda with emphasis on economic governance and infrastructure development’. It covers the period 2013 to 2017.

Transport reforms in Nigeria will also be accelerated thanks to the loan. They include the establishment of a Federal Road Authority, a National Road Maintenance Fund, and road tolling and axle load control policies.