The Economic Community of West African States and the French Development Agency have signed two new financial agreements totaling €20 million in support of the regional agriculture strategy.
The Guardian reported that the two finance agreements were signed on Monday, May 29, 2023, in Abuja, by the Director of the French Development Agency in Nigeria, Mr. Xavier Muron, and the President of the ECOWAS Commission, Dr. Omar Alieu Touray.
The occasion was marked in Abuja by the French Minister of State for Development and International Partnerships Francophonie, Ms. Chrysoula Zacharopoulou, and the French Ambassador to Nigeria and ECOWAS, Ms. Emmanuelle Blatmann.
This funding will be used to implement two projects, a €11 million “Local Milk Regional Strategy” that aims to develop local dairy value chains in West Africa and a €9 million “West African Food Security Storage Strategy,” bringing the total amount of French support for this important project to €17 million. The additional funding is essential given the region’s escalating food problem.
According to the President of the Commission, Dr. Touray, the implementation of the ECOWAS agricultural policy, the development of the activities of the ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development, and the health sector are just a few of the areas that have benefited from the various technical and financial support provided by France to ECOWAS through the AFD Group.
He praised, in particular, the assistance provided by the AFD Group over the past ten years, totaling €135 million, including €75 million in delegated European funds to implement regional projects and programs dealing with critical issues of vulnerabilities and crises affecting the region (food security, livestock, and transhumance conflicts, sanitary and water security, and armed insurgencies).
The ECOWAS Commission will carry out the project’s execution through its Regional Agency for Agriculture and Food. The ECOWAS region, which includes Chad, Mauritania, and Cameroon, will be the location of the project’s activities.
The French Minister of State said, “This support from the French Development Agency, AFD, is part of our combined efforts to boost the regional response to food security and nutrition concerns, as well as to promote economic and social development in the region.
The Minister of State praised the depth of the ongoing relationship between AFD and ECOWAS and stated that the financial assistance completely supports ECOWAP’s priority on food sovereignty.
