The National Project Coordinator (NPC) of the European Investment Bank assisted Nigeria Climate Adaptation – Erosion and Watershed Project (NEWMAP-EIB), Engr. Anda Ayuba Yalaks on Wednesday, briefed the Honorable Minister of Environment, Balarabe Abbas Lawal on the disbursement readiness status of the project. The briefing, which took place at the Ministry of Environment, marked a significant milestone towards the launch of the project. The NPC while briefing the Minister, provided an update on the project’s preparation, highlighting the progress made in meeting the conditions precedence (CPs) for disbursement. The project aims to address the issues of land degradation in a targeted subwatershed, improve the livelihood of communities affected by erosion, enhance food security, and promote environmental resilience for sustainable development. “This trajectory will transition the project to the next phase, which involves its official launch and declaration of its effectiveness by the Honorable Minister for Environment and Chairman of the National Steering Committee of an agreed date and venue. This important event will have the participation of the states, Federal MDAs, UNOPS, EIB, some selected NEWMAP-EIB Champion Governors, Federal Ministry of Finance, Representation from the National Assembly by the relevant various committees on Environment” he said. The Honourable Minister for Environment, Balarabe Abbas Lawal expressed satisfaction with the progress made so far commended the project team for their hard work, and further assured the team of the Ministry’s support towards actualizing and achieving the Project Development Objectives ( PDO) and it’s set out targets. He emphasized the importance of the project in addressing the pressing issues of soil erosion and other forms of land degradation in Nigeria. He further charged the NEWMAP-EIB Team to intensify sensitization on the project’s objectives and goals through aggressive publicity, Stakeholders and Community engagements and mobilization. The Representative of European Investment Bank, Moussa Nakoulima, in his remarks, expressed appreciation to the Honorable Minister, for his support. While highlighting on the role of the NEWMAP-EIB team, he reiterated that the project has met all conditions precedence for disbursement by the EIB. He also disclosed that the first disbursement which is expected in no distant time will be 10% of the total EIB financing. With the attainment of the condition readiness for disbursement now, the project is set to be launch. The launch will mark the beginning of the project implementation, which will include infrastructural investment in the areas of gully erosion control, flood water management, and other forms of land degradation will be implemented using the watershed management approach for sustainable development. The meeting had in attendance, the Honorable Minister for Environment, Mallam Balarabe Abbas Lawal, some Technical Directors of the Ministry, the National Project Coordinator, NEWMAP-EIB team, the Representative of EIB, the Director of Information of the Ministry and the Minister’s Support Staff.
