The Think Nigeria First Initiative (TNFI) has urged the Federal Government and the World Bank to approve a proposed $500 million additional financing for the Agro-Climatic Resilience in Semi-Arid Landscapes (ACReSAL) Project to accelerate land restoration and strengthen food security in Northern Nigeria.
The Director-General of TNFI, Alhaji Abubakar Sani, made the appeal at a press briefing organized in collaboration with the Northern Stakeholders Coalition for Sustainable Development in Abuja on Wednesday, 7th of October 2026.
Speaking under the theme, “Investing in the North, Building a Sustainable Future,” Sani said the additional funding would consolidate the gains recorded by ACReSAL, which operates across the 19 northern states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), with support from the World Bank.
He recalled that the project was approved in December 2021 with an initial financing of $700 million to tackle environmental challenges, including desertification, gully erosion, flooding and deteriorating dams, which have affected agricultural productivity and contributed to livelihood losses, migration and insecurity.
According to Sani, ACReSAL has restored 818,546 hectares of degraded land, representing 81 per cent of its target, while reaching 4.4 million direct beneficiaries, 47 per cent of whom are women.
He added that the project had facilitated the drilling of 965 solar-powered boreholes and disbursed $9.5 million through its Community Revolving Fund to 381 communities and 29,489 individuals.
The TNFI director-general also disclosed that 328 tractors had been distributed under the initiative, generating approximately N140 million in revenue.
Highlighting specific interventions, Sani cited a 21-kilometre gully erosion control project in Gombe State, which he said was 98 per cent complete and had protected more than 200,000 households and assets valued at N45 billion.
He also reported that the restoration of the Nguru wetland in Yobe State, which had remained dry for 12 years, had helped restore the livelihoods of about 80,853 farmers, herders and fishermen.
In Sokoto State, he said reconstruction work on the Wurno Irrigation Scheme, which collapsed in 2010, was expected to benefit more than 100,000 farmers.
He further noted that an intervention at the Sheda cassava centre in Kwali, FCT, had increased the number of women working at the facility from 10 to 200.
On the proposed additional financing, Sani said the Federal Government had requested $500 million, which would raise ACReSAL’s total financing to $1.2 billion if approved by the World Bank’s Board, scheduled to consider the request on October 29, 2026.
He described the request as justified by the project’s reported performance, adding that the financing would be provided on concessional terms through the International Development Association (IDA).
Sani said the additional funding would be tied to conditions requiring states to demonstrate progress in establishing coordinating agencies, maintaining completed interventions and collaborating with neighbouring states on shared catchment areas.
He also pointed to growing support for the project among northern stakeholders, noting that governors in eight states had personally commissioned or inspected ACReSAL projects, while N22 billion in counterpart funding had been released.
The TNFI director-general called on the National Assembly to support the proposed financing while strengthening its oversight to ensure accountability in the use of the funds.
He urged ACReSAL management to publish project results on a state-by-state and site-by-site basis, while appealing to state governments to release counterpart funds promptly and establish agencies to sustain completed interventions.
Addressing concerns about Nigeria’s rising debt burden, Sani argued that concessional borrowing for projects that restore agricultural land, improve water availability and strengthen rural livelihoods should be regarded as an investment in sustainable development.
“Investing in the North is how we build a sustainable future, and a sustainable North means a stronger Nigeria,” he said.
