… To Receive $80m For Counter-insurgency Efforts in North-East
The Federal Government budgeted a $350m donation to the ECOWAS Security Fund out of which $80m (over N30.5 bn) would be spent on the counter-insurgency campaign in the North-East.
The pledge was made towards the $1bn ECOWAS Regional Security Fund set up in 2019 but the amount so far contributed to the fund could not be confirmed immediately.
The Ghanaian President and Chairman of the ECOWAS Authority, Nana Akufo-Addo disclosed this during the virtual summit of the 58th ordinary session of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government held on Saturday.
He said the FG pledged to contribute $100m in the first instance last year, out of which $20m would go to the regional fund while $80m would be utilised to combat terrorism in the North-East.
Akufo-Addo noted that raising the $1bn fund in support of the 2020-2024 Anti-Terrorism Action Plan has to be a high priority for the ECOWAS, adding that the body was awaiting confirmation of transfer instructions.
He stated that the West African Economic and Monetary Union countries (Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte D’Ivoire, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Niger, Senegal, and Togo) had committed to contribute $500m while Nigeria pledged $350m, leaving $150m for the six remaining countries and other sources.
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