Nigeria signs aid agreements with EU
Regional, Economics, 3/23/2000

Nigeria Wednesday signed three development funding agreements worth some 32.8 million euros with the European Union, signalling the restoration of development assistance suspended during the last five years of military rule in the country.

Under the accords, signed by Philip Asiodu, chief economic adviser to President Olusegun Obasanjo, and Poul Nielson, the EU commissioner for development co-operation and humanitarian aid, some 21 million euro would go into "micro-projects programs" in Nigeria's troubled Niger delta region.

This would cover water supply, village transports, health and income generation projects.

Ten million euro would fund the economic management capacity project, designed to strengthen key government institutions such as the central bank, the finance ministry, federal office of statistics and the national planning commission.

This would enable the country to improve the quality and availability of social, economic and financial data as well as prepare, undertake and monitor development policies.

The third project on programming study is to help establish guidelines for the mid and long-term co-operation between the EU and Nigeria.

The first of the three-year accords goes into operation in June.

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