AFD, EU SUPPORT NAPTIN TO BOOST SKILLS, CAPACITIES IN THE NIGERIAN POWER SECTOR

France is a nation with diverse positive interventions in ongoing national growths in Nigeria. The European giant unrelenting development strides and unalloyed partnership commitment continues to endear her to Nigeria and its leadership, making her a nation to be proudly associated with and also earning her continued acceptance among the Nigerian people.

France, a celebrated nation in all ramifications has not only proven through its growth actions and activities that true friends are not only worthy to have but also important to keep. And, France keenness to seeing sustainable growth across Nigeria is applaudable and emulatory.

The mutual and blossoming cooperation existing between both countries, which is jealously guarded over the years is continually and rapidly yielding gainful engagements, profitable outputs and rewarding outcomes.

France is indeed a true and treasured friend of the country, an ally that ensures all is well with Nigeria at all times. Its footprints across sectoral developments are exemplary and enduring. And, while Nigeria remains glad and grateful that great gaits are accomplished on a regular basis as a result of its friendship with France, Paris and Abuja are constantly at the fore of increasing and sustaining global relevance and reckoning.

Towards the afore mentioned and in ensuring that a critical sector of the Nigerian economy continues to receive the necessary interventions for onward national productivity and gains, the European Union (EU) and Agence Française de Development (AFD) are collaborating with the National Power Training Institute of Nigeria (NAPTIN) to boost skills and capacity in Nigeria’s power sector for enhanced service delivery. Under the “Enhancing Vocational Training Delivery for the Nigerian Power Sector” Project jointly funded by the EU and AFD, NAPTIN will receive up to $46 million to help in providing power sector stakeholders with a workforce whose skills have been developed and capacities adapted to their needs.

At the 10^th Steering Committee Meeting of the project held in NAPTIN Headquarters, Abuja, Nigeria on the April 18^th 2024, stakeholders reviewed the progress made by the initiative, including upscaling the training catalogues; developing, renovating and equipping NAPTIN’s training centers with state-of-the-art standards and equipment; and enhancing the corporate governance and business model of NAPTIN.

With the biggest hydropower producer and the largest oil reserves in the ECOWAS region, Nigeria also offers great potential for renewable energy. In order to have these resources managed by the most skilled workers, NAPTIN was established as part of a larger framework for a robust training   program for the power sector. It aims to continuously develop the capacity of the power sector personnel and coordinate training activities across the country and the continent.

Chaired by the representative of the Federal Ministry of Power, Ms Victoria Adeosun, the Steering Committee Meeting was attended by representatives of the Federal Ministry of Finance; the Federal Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning; the Bureau for Public Enterprises; the Transmission Company of Nigeria; the Nigerian Electricity Regulation Commission; and the funding partners, AFD and the EU Delegation.

In, what NAPTIN’s Director General, Ahmed Bolaji Nagode described as a “very important and historic meeting”, members of the Steering Committee congratulated all project stakeholders on the success so far recorded in its implementation. Ms Adeosun also commended the continuous support provided by AFD and the EU which she said had enabled a smooth implementation of the project.

Long Live France-Nigeria Relations