ABUJA — A civil society group, Think Nigeria First Initiative, has backed an additional $500 million in World Bank financing for the Agro-Climatic Resilience in Semi-Arid Landscapes (ACReSAL) project in northern Nigeria. If approved by the World Bank board on 29 October, total financing would reach $1.2 billion. The group said the project has restored 818,546 hectares of degraded land, reached 4.4 million direct beneficiaries and built 965 solar-powered boreholes, and that 91.8 per cent of the original loan has been disbursed.