Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari (PMB) has been appointed the president of the Pan-African Agency of the Great Green Wall (PAGGW).
He is expected to preside over other 11 countries under the agency which include Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Chad, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal and Sudan.
The Minister of Environment, Dr. Mohammad Abubakar, made this known at a press briefing on the recent positive developments within the environment sector held in Abuja, saying the countries that made up the GGW supported the presidential aspiration of Nigeria.
He said the decision was arrived at the 7th Ordinary Session of the Council of Ministers of the Pan-African Agency of the Great Green Wall (PAGGW) on July 29, 2021 at Nouakchott, Mauritania.
He explained that Buhari would assume the presidency of the heads of states and government of the PAGGW at the end of the 5th summit.
According to him, the president’s takeover of the leadership of the council would facilitate easier access to about $5 billion dollars in grants and $14 billion dollars loans from the International Monetary Fund and European Union Bank to member-countries.
“The International Monetary Fund (IMF), European Union Bank had expressed support for the GGW programme. The importance of using the GGW programme to address the biodiversity problem of Africa cannot be over emphasized as the GGW programme remains the future of Africa.
“The council believes that President Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria is capable of taking the GGW delivery structure to a higher level if he becomes the chairman of the Summit of Heads of State and Government of PAN-GGW and that, if he takes over the leadership of the PAN-GGW, it would be easier for the GGW programme to access about 5 billion USD as grant and 14 billion USD soft loan available out there because of the respect the world has for the president,” he stated.
The resolutions adopted by the council included that Nigeria would host the 8th ministers’ meeting of the PAGGW later in the year; that Nigeria hosts the 5th Summit of the Heads of State and Government virtually in September, 2021; and that the Minister of Environment assumes the chairmanship of the Council of Ministers at the end of the 5th Summit.
