The Ekiti State Government signed a Subsidiary Loan Agreement (SLA) to join the Scale-Up phase of the Rural Access and Agricultural Marketing Project (RAAMP) on Oct. 17. This $600 million project will build more rural roads to help food production in the state.
The project gets funding from the World Bank, French Development Bank (AFD), and participating states through the Federal Government of Nigeria.
Speaking at the 9th Implementation Support Mission of the project in Ado-Ekiti, the National Coordinator of RAAMP, Engr. Aminu Bodinga Mohammed, said all 36 states and the FCT can join the Scale-Up if they meet the conditions.
Mohammed noted that Ekiti is one of the few states—like Akwa Ibom, Bauchi, and Sokoto—that has met the requirements. These include road sector reforms, setting up the Rural Access Roads Agency (RARA) and State Roads Fund (SRF), which are key parts of the project.
The National Coordinator explained that the Scale-Up builds on the good results from the first phase, where states used $488 million out of the $575 million available. He said a total of 801.96km of rural roads will be finished by April 2026, with 273.33km already done and 528.63km at different stages.
“When the project began, getting money out was hard; later, buying materials was the issue. But now, with help from the World Bank and French Development Bank, we have fixed those problems and are moving forward,” he said. “I am glad to say we have got another $500 million from the World Bank for the Scale-Up. This comes from our joint work. We have set up systems like the State Roads Fund (SRF) and Rural Access Road Authority (RARA) to keep the project going. All 36 states and the FCT will join the Scale-Up.”
Looking at how states are doing, Mohammed said Ekiti ranks second in paying counterpart funds among the last six states—Ekiti, Niger, Osun, Ebonyi, Gombe, and Kaduna. He praised the Ekiti Government under Governor Oyebanji for providing enough matching funds to keep the project smooth.
In his welcome address, the World Bank’s Task Team Lead (TTL), Rakesh Tripathi, said the bank and participating states, through the federal government, will fund the $600 million Scale-Up. He commended the states for working harder in the last six months but said heavy rains may have slowed building. Tripathi urged all states to match contract performance with actual civil works and ensure at least 90 percent of awarded roads are done in the next six months.
Reacting to Ekiti’s inclusion in the Scale-Up, the State Project Coordinator, Sunday Adunmo, called it a fresh hope for Ekiti communities whose rural roads are lined up for building by the state. He described the Scale-Up as a big change for Ekiti, saying it will open economic chances by giving better market access through more rural roads.
Adunmo added that Ekiti RAAMP has finished 50km of asphalted road out of the 132km awarded when the project started in the state.
