The Federal Government has officially launched the World Bank’s blockchain-powered FundsChain platform in Nigeria, a major step toward eliminating financial leakages and ensuring full transparency in the use of billions of dollars in development assistance.
The rollout was announced on Tuesday during a high-level workshop in Abuja organised by the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation (OAGF). Accountant-General Dr Shamseldeen Babatunde Ogunjimi described the initiative as a “game-changer” that will provide an immutable, real-time audit trail of every naira disbursed under World Bank-financed projects.
In the first phase, six ongoing World Bank-supported projects will migrate to FundsChain, which creates a secure digital ledger tracking funds from the moment they leave Washington until final expenditure on the ground.
“Transparency is no longer just a slogan – it is now embedded in the technology we use,” Dr Ogunjimi told project coordinators, accountants, and financial officers at the event. “With blockchain, every transaction is visible to authorised stakeholders and cannot be altered retroactively.”
A newly released Financial Management Manual will serve as the compulsory rulebook for all World Bank-funded programmes in Nigeria, while a strict new policy prohibits the abrupt removal of project finance staff in the last six months of implementation. Incoming officers must now overlap with their predecessors for a minimum of three months to guarantee continuity and proper documentation.
The reforms are already showing results: lapsed loans have fallen 61 percent from $18 million to $7 million, and undocumented advances have dropped by 15 percent.
Speaking on behalf of World Bank Country Director Mathew A. Verghis, Senior Financial Management Specialist Akram ElShorbagy praised Nigeria’s progress and pledged continued technical support to deepen the reforms.
Background on FundsChain
FundsChain is the World Bank’s proprietary blockchain solution designed specifically for development financing. Successfully piloted in 13 projects across 10 countries, it is being expanded to approximately 250 investment projects worldwide by the end of the Bank’s 2026 fiscal year.
In Nigeria, where the World Bank Group remains the largest single creditor with $19.39 billion in outstanding commitments (41.3 percent of the country’s $46.98 billion external debt as of June 2025), the stakes for airtight financial governance have never been higher.
Government officials say the combination of blockchain tracking, stricter staff-transition rules, and mandatory adherence to the new financial manual will help sustain Nigeria’s improving portfolio performance rating with the World Bank and unlock faster disbursements for critical infrastructure, health, education, and social protection programmes.
The FundsChain deployment aligns with President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, which lists fiscal discipline and efficient use of borrowed funds among its core priorities.
