The federal government is expected to receive a new loan from the World Bank, totalling $1.5 billion.

According to the Washington-based financial institution’s project list, the loan is set to be approved on September 26.

The $1.5 billion will be distributed through three major development projects aimed at improving Nigeria’s economic stability and resource mobilisation capacity.

The projects, targeting crucial sectors such as healthcare, agriculture, and infrastructure, are pivotal for the country’s sustainable development and economic stability.

A breakdown of the projects showed the World Bank will approve $500 million for the first project tagged ‘Nigeria: Primary Healthcare Provision Strengthening Programme’.

The World Bank did not disclose the cost of the first project.

Another $500 million will be approved for the ‘Nigeria Human Capital Opportunities for Prosperity and Equity (HOPE) – Governance’ project, which has a project cost of $700 million.

The third project, ‘Sustainable Power and Irrigation for Nigeria,’ will also receive $500 million, but has a project cost of $10.75 billion.

TheCable also observed that two loan requests, one on the ‘Rural Access and Agricultural Marketing Project – Scale Up,’ will receive $500 million by December 16, and the other on ‘Solutions for the Internally Displaced and Host Communities Project,’ slated for an approval date of April 8, 2025, will receive N300 million.

Nigeria’s external debt to the international lender keeps growing.

In May, the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) said the federal government has secured a $500 million loan from the World Bank to boost electricity distribution in the country.

Prior to this, the federal government had received $750 million from the World Bank for humanitarian and social reforms and $1.5 billion for its economic stabilisation plan.

Also, on June 3, Wale Edun, minister of finance and coordinating minister of the economy, said the World Bank board of directors would consider a loan of $2.25 billion for Nigeria.

The Federal Government has called on agencies recruiting for the private sector to adhere to the N70,000 minimum wage, warning that any deviation would not be tolerated.

According to the FG, the new minimum wage is necessary to address the current economic reality, emphasising that no Nigerian worker, whether in government or private employment, should be paid less than the minimum wage.

The Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment, Alhaji Ismaila Abubakar, stated this on Wednesday while speaking at the 13th Annual General Meeting of the Employers Association for Private Employment Agencies of Nigeria, held in Ikeja, Lagos.

Abubakar, who was represented by the Director of Employment and Wages of the ministry, John Nyamali, said, “The minimum wage is now a law, and as a result, it is a punishable crime for any employer to pay less than N70,000 to any of its workers.

“The private employment agencies should make it compulsory in any contract they take from their principal that their workers should not earn less than the minimum wage. The least paid worker in Nigeria should earn N70,000, and I think that should be after all deductions.

“The minimum wage is a law, and you can be jailed if you fail to implement it. The Federal Government is committed to ensuring that the least paid worker goes home with N70,000.”

In his remarks, the President of the Employers Association for Private Employment Agencies of Nigeria, Dr Olufemi Ogunlowo, asked the government and Nigeria Labour Congress to clarify whether the N70,000 minimum wage is net or gross, stating that all ambiguities in the Act should be highlighted and explained.

According to Ogunlowo, the EAPEAN is already committed to the minimum wage, providing decent jobs for Nigerians, and guarding against the exploitation of human resources.

“As an employers union in the private sector, we are committed to implementing the minimum wage. We are a law-abiding and guided association. Our principals and clients have also keyed into the minimum wage.

“However, the government must clarify whether the N70,000 minimum wage is net or gross. The government and NLC should address all ambiguities in the minimum wage,” he stated.

Speaking at the programme, the Chairperson of the NLC, Lagos State Council, Funmilayo Sessi, said the prevailing hardship had made a mess of whatever income any worker was earning in Nigeria, calling on private employers to ensure the payment of the N70,000 minimum wage.

She said, “The N70,000 isn’t enough in the current economic realities. By the time the consequential adjustment is concluded, all private employment agencies should immediately start paying their workers the N70,000 minimum wage.

“The NLC in Lagos State will see to the strict enforcement of the minimum wage. EAPEAN should avoid confrontation with the NLC on the minimum wage.”

Instagram has launched ‘teen accounts,’ a special feature to help protect under-18 users and enhance their safety on the platform.

Meta, the parent company of Instagram and Facebook, announced the launch in a statement via its blog on Tuesday.

It said all accounts belonging to users under 18 will be automatically converted to Instagram teen accounts, which will be set to private by default.

The teen accounts will only receive messages from people they follow or are already connected to.

The platform will also limit “sensitive content” including violence and videos promoting cosmetic procedures and filter out “offensive words and phrases” from comments and direct message requests.

The feature will allow teenagers to get notifications telling them to leave the app after 60 minutes each day.

A “sleep mode” will also automatically mute notifications between 10pm and 7am, and auto-reply to messages telling people to contact the user during the daytime.

Users under the age of 16 will need parental permission to modify the default settings but 16 and 17 will be allowed to disable the settings without needing approval from a parent.

Parents will also have access to a set of tools that let them monitor their children’s interactions and restrict app usage.

The feature is expected to start rolling out within 60 days in UK, US, Canada and Australia while other countries will start to get theirs by January.

Meta also announced it will bring teen accounts to other social media platforms under its parentage in 2025.