ABUJA, July 16 (Xinhuanet) -- The World Bank has offered another loan of 390 million US dollars to Nigeria to help it in the fieldsof water supply, power generating, state governance and capacity building, an official said here Saturday.

    Hafez Ghanem, the World Bank's country director in Nigeria, said the fresh loan was a result of the new Country Partnership Strategy (CPS) for Nigeria based on two principles of focus on poverty alleviation and the National Economic Empowerment Development Strategy.

    "The CPS, which is the first in the last 10 years, is a new model of partnership between the bank and Nigeria," he said.

    The funds are from the International Development Association, the concessional lending window of the bank.

    According to Ghanem, the World Bank will increase its projects in the most populous African country with a population of over 138million in the next three to four years, with the focus on povertyreduction, diversification of the economy and improvement of good governance.

    The World Bank and Nigeria began consultations on the CPS document last September. The CPS aims to assist Nigeria in the area of health, education, infrastructure, governance and the ongoing economic reforms. Enditem