Katsina to spend $110m IDB loan on 136 health centres

The Katsina State Government said it will spend a $110 million Islamic Development bank (IDB) loan on construction of 136 health centres in the 34 local governments of the state.

It will also build a teaching hospital for the three universities in the state, a nursing school, an infectious disease centre among others from the loan.

Defending the loan request before the House of Representatives committee on debts management yesterday in Abuja, the state commissioner for health, Mariya Bala Usman, said the loan agreement would be implemented under a 4-year programme.

“The proposed amount is equivalent to N34.5 billion at the exchange rate of N314 to a US Dollar,” she said.

She said if the state government is able to implement the loan agreement to the letter within the period, IDB would convert the loan to a grant, saying they have put everything in place to ensure full implementation.

“This loan will be used to finance the Katsina State Health System Programme, which is largely to address maternal mortality.

Members of the committee chaired by Adeyinka Ajayi (APC, Osun) said from the presentation, it appeared the Katsina State Government got its priority right at a time when many states were battling with health issues.

The panel also commended the Kaduna State Government team led by the commissioner of finance, Suleiman Abdul Kwari, for defending the over N45.3bn foreign loan proposal to be borrowed from the World Bank.

Meanwhile, the panel asked the Jigawa State team led by the finance commissioner, Umar Namadi, to bring detailed breakdown of how it intends to spend $32.4m, about N9.4bn, to be borrowed from the IDB.