The World Bank has added another $600 million (about N216 billion) for projects in the Lake Chad Basin region devastated by the Boko Haram terrorists.

The Bank made the announcement at the Berlin Conference on Boko Haram crisis, which held on Monday and Tuesday in Berlin.

The two-day high-level humanitarian conference was organised by the Governments of Nigeria, Germany and Norway, together with the United Nations.

The African Development Bank (AfDB) and the Islamic Development Bank also supported the Lake Chad Basin region with grants and concessional loans respectively.

Mr Mark Lowcock, UN Emergency Relief Coordinator, thanked the banks and countries for their generous donations and supports in a series of tweets.

“Thank you WorldBank for your incredible support to Lake Chad Basin and for announcing an additional $600M for projects throughout the region!

“Many thanks AfDB for your grant of US $35.65M to the #LakeChadBasin as well as the announcement of US $57.3M in concessional loans,” Lowcook said.

According to him, the Islamic Development Bank is supporting the Lake Chad Basin with $80 million in concessional loans.

The UN humanitarian chief also thanked Ireland for pledging 7.3 million euros; Sweden, 32 million pounds; the Netherlands, 12.1 million pounds; Italy, 15 million pounds; and Poland, 230,000 pounds.

Expressing his feeling, he said “I was so pleased to see the contributions from donors to development activities in the #LakeChadBasin through the UN Peacebuilding Support Office,” Lowcock said.

The News Agency of Nigeria recalls that the conference raked in about $2.52 billion dollars in pledges and concessional loans, with Germany, the host country, pledging 265 million euros and Norway, 125 million dollars.

The others were Switzerland, 20 million dollars; France, 131 million Euros; Belgium, 45 million Euros; Finland, 2.3 million Euros; and Denmark, 72.5 million dollars.

Recalled that the United Kingdom pledged 146 million pounds; Canada, 68 million Canadian dollars; European Union, 231.5 million euros; Luxembourg, 40 million euros and Spain, 3.2 million euros.

The international donor conference on ‘Boko Haram’ crisis raised $2.17 billion in support, and about $467 million in concessional loans for the crisis-ridden Lake Chad Basin region.

The humanitarian conference, which was one of the 2018 largest pledging conferences for the Lake Chad region, was convened to raise much needed resources for relief, development and peace-building programmes in the region.

“Participants agreed that a coherent, multi-year approach is needed, that integrates all available instruments to the protracted crisis and the root causes of the conflict.

“This is needed to pave the way for sustainable and resilient development of the region, and thus contribute to a better future for the affected people,” the organisers said in a press statement after the conference.

The conference also highlighted the regional dimension of the Lake Chad crisis, as well as the crucial role of local actors, cross-border cooperation and ownership, at all levels.

Violence by ‘Boko Haram insurgents’ in the Northeast Nigeria forced thousands to flee their homes, with many seeking refuge in neighbouring countries.