The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) is also called the World Bank. Like the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the establishment of the IBRD, resulted from the Bretton wood agreement of 1944. The bank’s initial objective was granting of loan to member countries for the reconstruction of the economies destroyed by the Second World War. The objective later extended to giving loan for the development of productive facilities and resources in the member nations. It must be noted anyway that the loans are not just obtainable by the member nations but also obtainable by the public and private entities in the member nations so far their governments guarantee them.
Access to loan is obtained via application, which will be read and considered, A team of inspectors is usually dispatched to go and assess the workability of the project. If the report of the team is positive, the loan is given and a team is set up to access and monitor the implementation of the project particularly to ascertain if the beneficiary is implementing the project in line with the conditions of the IBRD. In terms of fund generation, all member countries are expected to contribute their own share and quotas based on individual economic strength. The bank also gets money by borrowing from the international market through the issue of bonds backed by the quotas of members.
The IBRD and the West African Countries
The IBRD has extended loans and technical assistance to many West African countries at one time or the other to aid the undertaking of various projects. Nigeria in particular has gained from this such as in 1958 when $28 million was given for the extension of Nigeria Railway in Maiduguri, Shortly after independence when #58 million naira was given for the construction of hydroelectric power station, the Kanji dam to mention but a few.