Nigeria will continue to meet its financial commitment to the African Capacity Building Foundation to enable it continues its task of building the know-how needed for the development of the continent, the country’s Minister of State for Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, said yesterday.
Receiving a delegation of the ACBF in her office in Abuja, the Minister acknowledged the Foundation’s contributions to the success stories of the Nigerian organizations it has supported over the last 25 years of its existence, and said the country would in turn continue to help sustain the Foundation in spite of the prevailing economic condition.
“Nigeria will continue to meet its financial obligation to the organization and continue to play its role” as a founding member of the organization, the Minister told the delegation, led by Executive Secretary Prof. Emmanuel Nnadozie.
She expressed a desire for the Foundation to assist Nigeria in developing monitoring and evaluation frameworks to enable the country to improve its planning and development processes.
Prof. Nnadozie in his remarks assured the Minister that ACBF would be ready to assist with the project.
As the largest African contributor to the Foundation, Nigeria has given $6.7 million to the body since 1991. Out of the amount, $5 million was contributed to its current five-year development plan which expires later this year. It is developing a new plan that will last from 2017 to 2021.
Nigerian institutions have also got assistance worth more than $26 million from ACBF since its inception, Prof. Nnadozie said. Among the beneficiaries are the National Institute for Legislative Studies, Abuja; Centre for Management Development, Lagos; and the African University of Science and Technology, also in Abuja.
Earlier at the University, the authorities solicited increased funding to enable them to award post-graduate scholarships to more African women, thereby enhancing the institution’s pan-African outlook.
Before ending the mission on Friday, Prof. Nnadozie is expected to meet with the Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, Senate President Bukola Saraki, and other senior government officials.
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