The European
Union (EU) said yesterday it had concluded plans to spend about €600 million in
Nigeria over the next five years.
Most of the
spending, it noted, is targeted at helping Nigeria to attract private sector
foreign investments into the country’s power sector as well as to boost food
security.
The
Ambassador, Head of Delegation of the European Union to Nigeria and the
Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), Mr. Michael Arrion,
explained that the amount represents about five per cent of the EU’s entire
budget for the African, Carribean and Pacific (ACP) countries.
The
ambassador who spoke during a media luncheon in Lagos, said one-third of the
€600 million would be spent on electricity generation in Nigeria.
Arrion also
revealed that the EU is also signing a migration agreement with Nigeria to help
well meaning Nigerians that are highly skilled to get employment opportunities
in European countries; provide opportunities for people to study abroad and
boost Nigeria’s cordial relationship with European countries.
He said the
agreement would also check illegal migration of unscrupulous people who intend
to go abroad to engage in crime and other illegal activities.
“We are
injecting about €600 million for the next five years into Nigeria. Nigeria is
one of the top of recipients of development grants from the European Union, but
the amount is nothing compared to the need because it is not €500 million, but
€50 billion which Nigeria needs to address most of its development challenges,”
he said.
“The EU
proposed spending represents only one per cent of the need of the development
of the country. The bulk of the financial resources for development have to
come from investment from national investors, regional investors and
international investors.
“We are
facilitating a coherent platform between the development partners of Nigeria,
the Nigerian government and investors from the national and international
communities,” he added.
According to
him, with the development funds, EU can act in a catalytic way to attract
foreign investment. He said: “The EU’s plan to invest its development aid
programmes to support the government to improve the business climate by
boosting the confidence of international investors to invest in Nigeria.”
“Nigeria
must use our group of European nations to really improve political and policy
dialogues between Nigeria and European countries. We are really keen to engage
with the Nigerian government in areas of political and policy dialogues both at
the state and federal levels”, he said.
Furthermore,
he said: “We are implementing development cooperation programmes in three main
sectors such as electricity energy, food security, water and the basic social
services.
“We are also
quite active in the field of governance, criminal justice and human right which
are clearly linked to democracy.”
He added
that discussions have started with the security apparatus of the state,
stressing that Nigeria has to address its current security challenges to
develop.
“We believe
that there is no development without peace and security, if you want to address
the root causes of under development of some countries including Nigeria,
security issues should be addressed,” he added.
Arrion noted
that Nigeria is no doubt central to the growth of the continent, adding that
the economy has continued to grow at an average of seven per cent over the last
10 years attributing the growth to be driven by the non-oil sector of the
economy.
He said the
recent GDP rebasing exercise has propelled Nigeria to the position of the
largest economy in Africa, and noted that the Nigeria Stock Exchange (NSE)
outperformed most capital markets in 2013.
“Your
banking sector has remained stable after the 2009 crisis, FDI flows and
remittances from the diaspora remain significant. These positive indicators
point to an increased global confidence in the Nigerian economy in response to
ongoing reforms,” the ambassador stressed.
[This Day]
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