On an official visit to Nigeria, an EU ally in West Africa, on Thursday 19 October, the European Commissioner for International Partnerships, Jutta Urpilainen, together with Nigeria’s Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Abubakar Atiku Bagudu, launched a major investment package as part of the EU’s Global Gateway strategy to support the country’s ‘green and digital inclusive’ transition. Ms Urpilainen was accompanied by Commissioner for Energy Kadri Simson.
By leveraging private sector support, the Commission expects this investment to amount to “over €900 million”.
The biggest investments are in access to the Nigerian social protection safety net (€46 million), access to health services (€45 million), sustainable energy (€37 million) and climate-smart agriculture (€29 million).
Other programmes will support: - improving the criminal justice system, access to justice and the fight against corruption (€30 million); - border management and the reintegration of returnees (€28.4 million); - the disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration of Boko Haram fighters in the North East region (€20 million); - education in the North-West region of the country through the capacity building of teachers (€5.4 million).
€64 million in EIB loans. Jutta Urpilainen participated in the signature of loans granted by the European Investment Bank to private companies and banks in Nigeria. This includes a €50 million credit facility to Access Bank for loans to female entrepreneurs and a €14 million loan to Emzor Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients to finance the construction of a plant to produce RNA-messenger vaccines against malaria, which the WHO, the EU and Bill Gates want to be used for a large number of diseases (see EUROPE 13269/2, 12894/1).
The Nigerian minister welcomed this loan for “local production”, which the EU is also supporting in several other African countries. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)