The European Union (EU) delegation to Nigeria and ECOWAS has announced the roll-out of €288 million in support for Nigeria’s healthcare, agriculture, finance, migration, climate, and digital public infrastructure sectors.

The delegation made the announcement at the EU-Nigeria Ministerial news conference in Abuja, outlining the roll-out of funds for grants and support for the Nigerian economy. The announcement was made under the EU-Nigeria Partnership’s new commitment.

Stefano Signore, director general of International Partnerships at the European Commission, said the project represented the acceleration of investment that the EU was supporting as part of its Global Gateway Strategy.

Mr Signore said that though much had been done, more was expected to be delivered through the global gateway strategies.

He said health and agriculture stood out in this respect, as they joined forces to improve standards, infrastructure, local manufacturing, and inclusion.

Mr Signore added that the EU was committing to stronger cooperation on sustainable migration by providing better life options to returnee migrants.

Earlier, Abubakar Bagudu, Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, said that the event was built on the strong momentum generated at the 2023 EU-Nigeria Strategic Dialogue.

“Nigeria remains firmly committed to deepening this strategic relationship. Under President Bola Tinubu’s leadership, we are implementing bold and far-reaching macroeconomic reforms,” he said.

The minister said the reforms aim to stabilise the economy, strengthen fiscal sustainability, and create an enabling environment for private-sector-led growth.

Mr Bagudu, represented by Doris Anite-Uzoka, Minister of State, Budget and Economic Planning, said that collectively, they were laying the groundwork for a more competitive, resilient, and inclusive economy.

Olasupo Olusi, the managing director/CEO of the Bank of Industry (BoI), said that, through a partnership with the European Investment Bank, targeted, long-term financing is being provided to two priority sectors: healthcare and agriculture.

He said the sectors were central to Tinubu’s agenda for national resilience and inclusive growth.

Jarno Syrjaia, the undersecretary of state for foreign trade in Finland, said Finland would assume the lead role in the new Team Europe Initiative.

Mr Syrjaia said it was to strengthen Nigeria’s digital public services and support the three million technical talents (3MTT).

He said his government was proud to announce its commitment to enhancing Nigeria’s digital public services and advancing inclusive digital skills.

He said that Finland’s development and training company, HAUS, would lead the implementation in partnership with Estonia’s development agency, ESTDEV, to bring together European expertise in digital government and public-sector innovation.

Uche Amaonwu, country director for the Gates Foundation, said supporting health manufacturing was critical to shared strategic goals.

Mr Amaonwu said the foundation was glad to work with its partners who lead the way in mobilising financing for African healthcare players.

“We congratulate the BoI and PVAC for mobilising this innovative facility that will serve the real financing needs of Nigerian health manufacturers,’’ he said.

Out of the €288 million, €23 million is for grant support for the Nigerian DPI.

€108 million is for the recent signing of a €22 million grant and a €86 million loan to the Nigerian government.

Furthermore, €50 million is allocated to the recent signing of a lending facility with the Bank of Industry to boost the development of healthcare manufacturing projects in Nigeria.

Also, €5 million is for supporting training in the health, pharma, and nutrition sectors.

Others are €85 million from a recent signing of a lending facility with the BoI to support on-lending operations in favour of agribusinesses in selected value chains, in particular dairy and cocoa.

€1 million is for an upcoming launch of a Twinning project with the Ministry of Agriculture to bring in public-sector climate/agriculture experts from Austria, the Czech Republic, and Latvia.

€16 million will be allocated to an additional contribution to support Nigeria’s efforts to improve and strengthen the sustainability of its migration governance framework.

This will focus on the reintegration of returning migrants and countering trafficking in human beings (THB) and smuggling of migrants (SoM).

(NAN)