15 January 2008
Lagos — Nigeria Technical Co-operation Fund (NTCF), yesterday in Abuja, said it would provide technical assistance worth $25 million to African countries.
Acting Director-General DTCA, Dr Sule Bassi, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the money would be spent on mobilisation of African expertise, adding that projects to be executed with the funds would promote intra-African technical co-operation.
"The idea of these projects is that you can fast-track the development of Africa by harvesting the synergy that exists in several countries.
The fund, which is not directly accessible, is project and programme-driven, with a utilisable rate of $2.5 million per annum over a 10-year period," he said.
According to him, Nigeria is the only country today in the continent, which is managing a technical co-operation fund in Africa, in collaboration with the ADB.
Bassi, however, said the DTCA was not limiting its programmes to Africans within, but also to those in the Diaspora.
"We are calling back Africans that have left their countries for various reasons," he said. According to him, the NTCF constituted 60 per cent of donor funds at the ADB, which was managed by the DTCA on behalf of Nigeria.
He said the fund, currently in its third year, had been used to successfully execute 48 projects and programmes across the continent.
According to Bassi, under such projects, six Nigerian professors will soon leave for Ethiopia, to assist itsgovernment to establish 13 new universities.
adding that NTCF was also collaborating with Tunisian, Burkinabe and Egyptian governments on various projects and programmes.The NTCF is a special funding window created from the Nigerian Trust Fund, domiciled at the African Development Bank (ADB) since April 2004.
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