Nigeria disburses N600bn in cash transfers to 10m households

Nigeria’s Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction, Bernard Doro, announced that the federal government has disbursed over N600 billion in cash transfers to approximately 10 million households over the last three years. The initiative aims to cushion the impact of economic shocks, such as the removal of the petrol subsidy, and support vulnerable citizens.

Doro noted that while the individual amounts may seem small to the elite, they provide essential support to the poorest households. In addition to cash transfers, the government has implemented vocational skills training for over 18,000 people and support programs for farmers.

The government is also launching the $1 billion Household Prosperity and Empowerment Social Protection Project (HOPE-SP). Unveiled by First Lady Oluremi Tinubu, this project targets 7.6 million vulnerable households, providing a one-off digital shock-response transfer of N40,000 per household. The administration is currently commissioning a review of poverty data to better measure the long-term effectiveness of these interventions.