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Nigeria’s government has called for increased bilateral cooperation with Agence Française de Développement (AFD) in areas of mutual benefit.
This was disclosed by the Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Sen. Abubakar Atiku Bagudu, during a courtesy visit by the AFD Group Mission Executive in Nigeria, held in Abuja. The Minister was represented by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Nebeolisa Anako.
The Minister acknowledged AFD’s contributions to Nigeria over the past 15 years and called for further interventions in sectors such as sports development, energy, compressed natural gas (CNG), and the establishment of hydro-power plants. He emphasised the importance of environmentally friendly energy solutions, which could be implemented through Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) arrangements.
He said; “We want to improve our energy with environmentally friendly energy which can be on Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) arrangement.”
The AFD Executive Mission Lead, Mr. Phillipe Orliange noted the importance of Nigeria within the International Financing Development has grown, and it is imperative to do more work in the country.
Mr Orliange said that “their aim of visiting the Ministry was to seek opportunities to direct future investment in the country.”
He explained that AFD as a Public Financing Institute was willing to offer support in the implementation of Nigeria’s National Development Plans (NDP) and realising the eight-point agenda of President Ahmed Tinubu’s administration.
The Acting Director, Plans and Projects, Dr. Kenneth Kwujeli made a presentation on the National Development Plan and its priorities in line with the Renewed Hope Agenda of the current administration.
Agence Francaise de Development Group is a Public Financial Institution that implements the French Government’s plan and will be celebrating 15 years of sustainable impacts in Nigeria on 27th June, 2024, in Abuja.
