| Background The Country Assistance Strategy (CAS) is the most important World Bank country document. It is tailored to the needs and circumstances of each country and lays down the World Bank Group's development priorities, as well as the level and type of assistance the Bank will provide for a period of three years.
The CAS preparation is a participatory process. Before the adoption, key elements of the strategy are discussed with government representatives; and to ensure the widest possible involvement, public dialogues are also held, with Internet-based discussions taking place in many countries.
However, the CAS is not a negotiated document. Any differences between the country's own agenda and the Bank's strategy are highlighted in the CAS document. A progress report is issued in the intervening year. More information is available at the World Bank CAS website.
Nigeria Country Partnership Strategy (CPS), 2010 - 2013 Since 2003, Nigeria has been carrying out an ambitious agenda of reforms. The most far-reaching of these was to base the budget on a conservative reference price for oil, with excesses saved in a special account. Other significant reforms were launched in public finance, banking, oil and gas, power, telecommunications, ports, steel, and mining. The economy responded with strong growth between 2003 and 2007, but slowed in 2008, in the wake of the global economic crisis. The Nigerian economy remains dominated by oil, which accounts for 95 percent of export earnings and 85 percent of government revenues; with oil prices dropping to roughly one-third of their 2008 peak, the near term prospects for economic growth and fiscal balances have weakened.
The Country Partnership Strategy (CPS II)
The Country Partnership Strategy (CPS II) covers FY10-13 and focuses on three themes to transform and diversify Nigeria's economy: (i) improving governance; (ii) maintaining non-oil growth; and (iii) promoting human development, identified by the Government and reaffirmed in the stakeholder consultations. To achieve better governance, the new CPS will focus on how Bank group and partners can help the government strengthen its own systems over the long term--going beyond fiduciary controls over our own funds given that we are a small player in Nigeria. Governance will be both a core theme and a cross-cutting theme, an integral part of virtually every form of support. Each partner will focus on these three areas, with varying degrees of emphasis. The partnership will also provide support to the government to deal with the impact of the global crisis.
The donor partnership is expanding under this second phase. Based on good experience under the previous country partnership between the Bank and Department for International Development (DFID), this strategy includes the Bank Group, DFID, United States Agency for International Development (USAID), and the African Development Bank (AfDB). The Country Partnership Strategy (CPS) partners account for over 80 percent of Nigeria's development assistance.
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