Abuja — The World Bank and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) have approved $.9.6 million (N1.344 billion) grant to the Lake Chad Basin Commission as part of efforts to improve the Lake Chad Basin.

The Executive Secretary of LCBC, Engr. Sani Adamu while speaking at the launching of Lake Chad Basin/Global Ecological Facility Project in Abuja yesterday disclosed that the two-day workshop LCBC/GEF, was to try to sensitise all stakeholders to identify with the necessary project elements and deliberation on easy steps the project should take.

The World Bank Senior Water Resources Management Specialist Central and Western African Region, Mr. Johan Grijsen, noted that the main objective of the project was to achieve concerted management of the naturally integrated land and water resources of the lake through enhanced collaboration and capacity building among stakeholders.

He said the project which will be implemented within the next four years will involve the completion of a Trans-boundary Diagnostic Analysis (TDA) and lead to a GEF support Strategic Action Programme (SAP) while the project will involve development and testing of a set of institutional mechanisms and implementation mythologies.

He further said a basinwide synthetic framework would be put in place where trans-boundary priorities and projection intervention can be monitored.