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Nigeria and France Tuesday signed agreements for the provision of development grants to fund various projects worth $475 million, about N14.5b in Nigeria.
The grants were given to fund projects in Lagos, Kano and Ogun states to develop various projects
The projects which are being financed through a French development agency, the Agence Francaise de Development will support various projects including water improvements efforts in Kano state.
The AFD is an inclusive public financial institution and the main actor in France’s development policy, which makes commitments to projects that genuinely improve the everyday lives of people in developing and emerging countries and in the French overseas territories.
The concessional loan granted to the Kano stare by the AFD, is to allow Kano state develop effective and sustainable water supply
The key objectives of the water project include improve access to drinking water and quality of water service in greater Kano; improve financial viability of Kano State Water Board by increasing its revenues and the enhancement of the governance framework of the water sector.
The project mainly comprises rehabilitation and densification of the network, as well as the main water production facilities
The project will support consumer awareness campaigns in particular sanitisation promo and hygiene sensitization, provide assistance to Kano State Water Board and to the State Ministry in charge of Water Resources.
“ First, activities will start in the coming months and are scheduled for a period of six years – it will contribute to improve the competitiveness of and increase the drinking water availability in greater Kano for approximately 1.5 people”
The Ogun agreement is a letter of intent to participate in the implementation of Nigeria blue print and land degradation project in Ogun state.
Uche Orji, Managing Director of the Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority NSIA signed for Nigeria while Rachel Kolbe signed for the French government
The French President Emmanuel Macron and President Muhammadu Buhari, while speaking at a joint press briefing, applauded the longstanding relationships between both countries.
The French President called for the development of inclusive economic policies and human capital development as a panacea for addressing insecurity
“Now, what we have to better understand is, why many people are convinced to join these jihadists and these terrorists. That is what we discussed and this is the second part of your question, because of some times economic and ethnic crisis.
“ That is why it is very important to built not just the security approach but the stabilization approach at the same time, to prove new opportunities to these people and convey two messages.
“ Your governments will take care of you, I mean provide security and secondly your governments can provide opportunities to you”
“I would say inclusive economic and cultural projects, where you provide the way for your young people to get education, jobs as well as to be proud of what you are. I think is extremely important. Because in a certain way, what we are experiencing today in Europe is also threatened by terrorism, that is moral crisis, that is cultural crisis. So not just issue about security, that for me is the way to proceed”
This is just as Macron assured Nigeria of his country’s continued support for the fight against terrorism, improvements of the economic situation in the Sahel region and the fight against corruption in Nigeria.
The Lagos project is to also support the urban mobility improvement programme of Lagos State by financing the project worth $200 million.
BusinessDay gathered that the French President, President Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria, witnessed the signing of a letters of intent for the financing of the urban mobility improvement programme initiated by the Lagos State Government.
“This letter or intent of the equivalent in Euro of $200 million is related to a potential loan by AFD to the federal government of Nigeria.”
“ It was signed by the Agence Francaise de Development (AFD) CEO, Mr. Remy Rioux, and the Honourable Minister of Finance of Nigeria, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, in presence of His Excellency, Denys Gauer, the Ambassador of France in Nigeria”
The project consists of the development of eight priority bus corridors connected to the mass transit network, including urban train and high-level service buses with a total length of 41 kilometres, creation of two multimodal interchange hubs and functional integration of four public transport modes for urban train, high-level bus service, water transport lines and bus lines and planning and management capabilities of the transportation system.
The project follows the successful urban development of the second Lagos BRT bus project, already funded by AFD.
The project was aimed at contributing to Lagos sustainable urban development through the deployment of a public transport network combining quality service, efficiency, accessibility, reliability, safety, reduction of polluting emissions and socio-economic and financial sustainability.
It will provide the 1,500,000 inhabitants access to quality transportation system, limiting road congestion, reducing an emission of 14,900 tons of CO, equivalent annually and thus improving the quality of the air; and creating stable jobs and initiating the professionlisation of the informal operators of transport (the artisanal transport
BusinesDay also gathered that the project has a strong potential for capitalization of experience and replication to other cities in Nigeria and the sub-region
