Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki, today expressed the willingness of the State Government to learn from the knowledge and experiences of the World Bank in its efforts to achieve development at the grassroots.
The governor, who recalled that the state government had received three different teams of World Bank in the last five weeks, expressed this position when he hosted the World Bank’s Senior Director on Governance, Global Practice, Mrs. Deborah Wetzel, at the Government House in Benin.
Obaseki said: “Edo from now needs more knowledge and less cash from World Bank so it can
optimise its available resources for the benefit of all.
“We have gone through a learning curve with the World Bank, a journey which started 10 years ago and we want to drive this down to the local government councils so that every individual in the state will feel the impact of government. It is working for us at the state level and we want to work at strengthening that at the local government level”, the governor added.
Specifically, the governor pointed out that his administration’s plan to work with World Bank was aimed at strengthening governance and deepen physical and infrastructure reforms.
In her remarks, the World Bank’s chief said that her visit was to strengthen and develop the various aspects of governance in the state, expressing the hope that the Breton Woods institution will work with all the states to support them to improve their structures.
She said: “We want to see how states are working and how World Bank can support them to get better results.
“We will be looking at building states’ transparency, economic recovery and growth plan; revenue collection and creating an enabling environment where private sector can thrive”, Wetzel added.
