NAN-H-76
Projects
By Maureen Okon
Abuja, Jan. 20, 2017 (NAN) Mr Philippe Chedanne, the Deputy Director Sub-saharan Africa Department of Agence francaise de developpement (AFD), says the agency executed projects worth over 300million Euros in Nigeria in 2016.
The director said the measure became necessary to enhance the economic well-being of Nigerians.
Chadanne told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Wednesday that: “our portfolio in Nigeria is to focus on three main objectives and sectors in order to provide decent sustainable jobs’’.
“The agency has promoted SMEs and family farming by improving electricity access and other basic services in some cities in Nigeria,’’he said.
He explained that 70 million Euros was dedicated to food security in the ECOWAS region as grants, while over 160 million Euros was for private activities.
The director said that the agency was working closely with the Federal and State governments as well as some private sectors and international organisations in enhancing the living standard of Nigerians.
“The agency gives soft loans, credit facility and also guarantees direct loans to the private sector in Nigeria banks. It also gives grants to ECOWAS for feasibility studies,’’ the director said.
According to him, the AFD has acquired a new country office in Abuja and there are 20 staff working both in Abuja and Lagos offices of the agency in Nigeria.
“Presently, 16 of them are dedicated to ECOWAS activities in Nigeria and four are in charge of the private sector in Lagos,’’he said.
Chadanne said AFD had committed over 1 billion Euros to some projects in Nigeria in less than 10 years.
According to him, some of the projects are located in Lagos, Ogun, Niger, Enugu and Osun states among others.
NAN reports that AFD is a public financial institution that implements the policy defined by the French Government.
It works to fight poverty and promote sustainable development.
This public institution is active in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, Latin America, the Caribbean and the French oversea territories. (NAN)
ETIM/ACO/MO
===========Edited by Abiodun Oluleye/Morayo Omolade