Nigeria is set to train more than 24,000 additional professionals in procurement, environmental and social standards following the signing of fresh $65m performance contracts under the Sustainable Procurement, Environmental and Social Standards Enhancement (SPESSE) project backed by the World Bank.
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The new financing phase, signed on Wednesday by the National Universities Commission (NUC) and participating universities in Abuja, is expected to deepen Nigeria’s push for stronger governance systems, transparent procurement processes, environmental sustainability, and improved public sector accountability.
The project, which started in 2021 with an initial $80m World Bank facility, is coordinated by the NUC and implemented through six centres of excellence spread across Nigeria’s geopolitical zones.
Officials at the signing ceremony said the latest funding expansion would not only scale up training and certification programmes but also support the deployment of a nationwide electronic procurement system powered by emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning.
Speaking during the event, the Executive Secretary of the NUC, Professor Abdullahi Ribadu, described the additional financing phase as a major step toward building long-term institutional capacity across Nigeria.
“This phase marks not only a continuation of the initiative, but also a renewed opportunity to consolidate achievements, scale impacts, and deepen sustainability measures across the participating institutions,” Ribadu said.
According to him, the SPESSE initiative was created to solve a major gap in Nigeria’s university and public governance system, particularly the shortage of trained professionals in procurement, environmental management, and social safeguards.
“The project was conceived to address a critical gap in the Nigerian university system.
“Insufficient supply of skilled professionals in procurement, environmental and social safeguards, as well as the limited availability of specialised academic programs in these fields,” he stated.
Ribadu explained that the six centres established under the programme have already become important institutions for training professionals needed to strengthen transparency, environmental responsibility, and socially inclusive development across Nigeria and other African countries.
The participating universities include centres such as Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) and Lagos State University (LASU), among others.
According to the NUC boss, the project has already recorded major milestones since becoming operational in 2021.
He said several academic programmes have now been developed under the initiative, including short courses, postgraduate diplomas, master’s degrees, undergraduate programmes, and newly introduced PhD programmes.
“Resource verification exercises have enabled the centres to mount postgraduate diplomas, master’s, and bachelor’s programmes, while investments in high-performance computing infrastructure, learning management systems, live streaming facilities, and digital learning platforms have strengthened teaching, learning, and research across the centres,” Ribadu said.
The commission also disclosed that some of the centres have started attracting foreign students while building international partnerships with institutions outside Nigeria.
According to Ribadu, more than 68 international collaborations have already been established under the project.
He further revealed that certification systems for procurement, environmental, and social standards became operational in 2025 through collaboration with agencies such as the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP), the Federal Ministry of Environment, and the Federal Ministry of Women’s Affairs.
“In 2025, certification protocols for all three thematic areas, that is, procurement, environmental, and social standards, were developed and activated by the Bureau for Public Procurement, the Federal Ministry of Environment, and the Federal Ministry of Women’s Affairs, respectively, to authenticate practitioners,” he said.
One of the major announcements from the event was the expansion of postgraduate research training under the project.
Ribadu said three of the six centres have already commenced PhD programmes, while the remaining centres are expected to begin theirs in the next academic session starting from July 2026.
“I am proud to inform you that this has already been actualised, with the commencement of PhD programmes by three of the six centres, and the remaining three set to commence the next academic session commencing in July 2026,” he stated.
Under the new financing phase, the project is also targeting at least 60 PhD graduates, 60 foreign student enrolments, 18 staff internship opportunities, and 60 international student exchange programmes.
Ribadu added that The Gambia has already shown interest in sending citizens to study at the centres.
“We already have an expression of interest from the Gambia to send some of their citizens to the centres, and I ask the vice chancellors to take advantage of this opportunity,” he said.
Beyond academic expansion, the Federal Government is also positioning the SPESSE programme as a key driver of Nigeria’s digital procurement transition.
Ribadu said electronic procurement would become a central part of the project as the government plans to digitise future procurement activities.
“The government intends to have all procurements in the future to be done electronically. So all this will now be possible within this funding framework,” he stated.
Task Team Leader of the SPESSE Project at the World Bank, Ishtiak Siddique, said the initiative remains one of the bank’s most strategic partnerships with Nigeria because of its impact across multiple sectors.
According to Siddique, the World Bank currently has a portfolio valued at about $17bn in Nigeria, but SPESSE stands out because procurement, environmental, and social standards affect almost every government project and public service activity.
“This particular project is very close to our heart because it actually cuts across all the sectors,” he said.
“If you want to do any development activities in the country, or any particular service from the government side you want to give to the citizen, you need to handle procurement, environment, and social sector.”
Siddique disclosed that more than 40,000 people have already been trained under the original phase of the project across the three thematic areas.
He described the figure as a major achievement considering the importance of continuous professional development in governance and public administration.
“More than 40,000 people have been trained already in these three standards, which is a big deal.
“It is not like that people will be trained, and then they will forget about their training, but no.
“They have to continuously nurture their skills, continuously learn, and that will be monitored through this certification programme,” he said.
According to him, the newly approved additional financing package will significantly increase the scale of training activities nationwide.
“We are aiming even higher, an additional 24,000 people at least will be trained under the additional financing,” Siddique revealed.
The World Bank official also announced plans to implement a fully integrated end-to-end electronic procurement platform at the federal level before extending it to state governments.
“On the procurement side, the additional financing includes implementation of an end-to-end full-fledged electronic procurement system at the federal level initially, which will later be rolled out at the state level,” he stated.
He explained that the system is being designed to take advantage of technologies such as machine learning and artificial intelligence to improve efficiency, reduce delays, strengthen monitoring, and increase transparency in public procurement.
“The way it is being designed, it takes advantage of all the new technologies like machine learning, artificial intelligence to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the public procurement,” Siddique said.
The Director-General of the Bureau of Public Procurement, Adebowale Adedokun, said the agency would continue supporting the professionalisation of procurement practice in Nigeria through the SPESSE programme.
According to him, the initiative is helping to produce procurement officers who are academically qualified and professionally competent.
“As this project moves into this additional financing period, the Bureau is committed, and together with other stakeholders, will ensure we produce both procurement officers who are both academically and professionally competent, thereby supporting the national sustainable development program of our country,” Adedokun stated.
He disclosed that over 2,700 officers from ministries, departments, and agencies across federal, state, and local governments have already been trained and certified under the programme.
“This project has so far trained and certified over 2,700 officers from these various sectors of excellence and indeed from various private sectors, drawn from their MDAs at the federal, state, and local governments,” he said.
Adedokun added that the new financing phase would also support online training programmes for small and medium-sized enterprises as well as policymakers handling public funds.
Vice Chancellors of participating universities also highlighted the impact of the project on institutional growth and human capacity development.
The Vice Chancellor of Lagos State University, Professor Ibiyemi Olatunji-Bello, said the intervention had transformed training systems in procurement and environmental standards within the university.
“Before this, we had had nothing on procurement in terms of training. We didn’t have one social standard or environmental standard.
“What it has done is made it more intentional for us to train the personnel and the people that would work in these areas and create the systems that are required to strengthen the country,” she said.
The Vice Chancellor of Ahmadu Bello University, Professor Adamu Ahmed, also said the programme had improved student enrolment and expanded virtual learning opportunities.
“Well, quite a big progress that we have made from the perspective of the number of students that we have trained,” Ahmed stated.
He added that the programme has continued to attract applications from international students.
“We have quite a few international students, and we continue to receive those applications to get them on board,” he said.
