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| Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation building used to illustrate the story |
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has committed $2.4 million to Nigeria as part of the ongoing COP27 climate financing negotiations.
Mohammed Abdullahi, the environment minister, made this announcement on Wednesday in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, the site of the international climate change conference.
According to him, the vow called for both agroforestry intervention and soil science research and development.
“For instance, this morning, I was with the Bill and Melinda Foundation, they have pledged additional money to support our agroforestry and also support our development of digital technology in term of research and development on soil and activities that are related to planting of cowpea, beans, maize and rice.
“Their focus is to support smallholder farmers in terms of developing both in capacity and knowledge for soil; soil science before planting, and capacity to also plant.
“That is a specific funding line from Bill and Melinda Foundation and it is about $2.4 million.
“We have also discussed with the European Development Bank (EDB); they have indicated interest to finance some green projects in Nigeria, but they needed partner organisation in the country.
“We have an open line of discussion with the Bank of Industry to see whether they could serve as country representatives for the EDB to identify those projects and execute them,” he said.
Mr Abdullahi, however, could not specifically say the total amount of the commitments the country had secured so far, as he said negotiations were still ongoing.
“We cannot say specifically that there are “x amount of money”, but they are windows of opportunity that we can exploit after the event. We have opened discussion with them.
“There is a group we call Good Soil DC. It is UK and Ghana based; they have committed about $50 million to support activities in the REA (Rural Electrification Agency). I have match-make REA and Good Soil DC, to see how they can pluck from the $50 million.
“50million dollars is not just meant for Nigeria. It is for general developing countries, but our ability to present a bankable, workable green and renewable project will determine the kind of quantum we will get.
“In general, I think we are making progress in term of funding opportunities,” the minister said.
(NAN)