U.S. COVID-19 assistance to Nigeria rises to N11.6bn

The United States says its coronavirus (COVID-19) emergency assistance to Nigeria has risen to 30 million dollars (N11.2 billion).

It was reported that this represents an additional 23 million dollars (N8.6 billion) COVID-19 aid from the U.S. to Nigeria.

On March 27, the U.S. through its Department of State announced a seven-million-dollar (N2.6 billion), “emergency health and humanitarian assistance” to boost the fight against the disease in Nigeria.

According to the department, the current package includes 26 million dollars (N9.7 billion) to fund “risk communication, water and sanitation activities, infection prevention, and coordination”.

It says the balance of four million dollars (N1.5 billion) covers humanitarian assistance for vulnerable people in the country.

“This assistance joins more than 8.1 billion dollars (N3 trillion) in total assistance for Nigeria over the past 20 years, including more than 5.2 billion dollars (N1.9 billion) in U.S. health assistance,” it said.

As of Tuesday, Nigeria had 2,950 confirmed cases of the disease and 98 deaths, according to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC).

Meanwhile, the U.S. on Wednesday announced an additional 130 million dollars (N48 billion) in global health and humanitarian assistance to combat the pandemic.

In a statement, the Secretary of State Mr Michael Pompeo, said the total package now stood at 900 million dollars (N338 billion) to no fewer than 120 countries.

“Congress has provided 2.4 billion dollars (N902 billion) in total,” Pompeo told newsmen later at a news briefing in Washington.

“This new tranche of funding provides more than 40 million dollars (N15 billion) in additional funds for countries in the Indo-Pacific, prioritising places like India and Bangladesh and Indonesia.

“We will also provide more than 20 million dollars (N7.5 billion) in global health assistance to Africa, with major investments in South Africa as well as in South Sudan.

“We have allocated 11 million dollars (N4 billion) in contributions to the IAEA to support 83 member states in their fight,” he said.

It was reported that as at Tuesday, May 5, there were 2,950 confirmed cases of CIOVID-19 in Nigeria, 481 discharged and 98 deaths.