Abuja, 11 July 2017 (ACBF) – The African Capacity Building Foundation, the African Union’s Specialized Agency for Capacity Development, has consolidated its support for Nigeria’s development by providing a grant of $1.2 million to the National Institute for Legislative Studies.
It comes under a second generation of the National Institute for Legislative Studies Capacity Building Project ( known for short as NILS-CAP II), and it will help to fund regional workshops to enhance the technical capacity of parliamentarians to better perform their economic and financial oversight function. It will equally enhance the accountability of state institutions in the West Africa sub-region as well as augment the capacity of lawmakers to oversee implementation of intra-regional trade agreements and negotiations in the global market.
ACBF’s Executive Secretary, Prof. Emmanuel Nnadozie, in a speech at the ceremony, said that the implementation of the project would further enhance the status of NILS as a national institution with a regional outlook.
“The project will enable NILS to, among other things, organize dialogue sessions for policy makers and legislators to deliberate on important national and regional development issues,” Prof. Nnadozie said. “More important, this grant will enable NILS to expand its coverage to Francophone countries and work closely with the ECOWAS Parliament,” he said.
In his remarks, Senate President and Chairman of the Institute’s governing body, Dr. Bukola Saraki, called on stakeholders to address the issues of smuggling of goods such as rice and pharmaceutical products into Nigeria from neighboring countries, thereby undermining the huge investment in local production. If not carefully addressed, the trend could hamper the implementation of a healthy regional trade and agricultural policies in the Economic Community of West African States, he warned.
“I, therefore, urge all stakeholders during the consideration of the NILS-CAP II to thoroughly and carefully address these anomalies to ensure a healthy and competitive trade policy among ECOWAS countries,” Dr Saraki said.
Since its inception, ACBF has committed more than $30 million to develop human and institutional capacity in Nigeria. Beyond the support to NILS, ACBF’s assistance to Nigeria-based institutions has benefitted institutions including the Center for Management Development (CMD), the former National Center for Economic Management and Administration (NCEMA), and the West African Institute of Financial and Economic Management (WAIFEM), providing training for about 15,000 Nigerian public officials.
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For more information, please contact:
Abel Akara Ticha – Senior Communication Officer
The African Capacity Building Foundation
Harare, Zimbabwe
+263 7+263-4 304663, 304622, 332002, 332014; Ext. 279
Email: A.Ticha@acbf-pact.org
About the African Capacity Building Foundation
Established in 1991, ACBF builds human and institutional capacity for good governance and economic development in Africa. To date the Foundation has empowered people in governments, parliaments, civil society, private sector and higher education institutions in more than 45 countries and 6 regional economic communities. ACBF supports capacity development across Africa through mobilization and leveraging of resources for capacity development; grants, investments and fund management; knowledge services; promoting innovation in capacity development and capacity development advisory services. The establishment of ACBF was in response to the severity of Africa’s capacity needs, and the challenges of investing in indigenous human capital and institutions in Africa. ACBF interventions are premised on four principles: the centrality of capacity to the development process in Africa; the critical role of a partnership and demand-driven approach in tackling capacity challenges; African ownership and leadership in the capacity development process; and a systematic, sequenced and coordinated approach to the capacity development process that pays attention to capacity retention and utilization. For further information go to: www.acbf-pact.org
