Nigeria

Since 2016, AFD has been contributing to the growth of the Development Bank of Nigeria (DBN), which the government set up in 2015 to support and develop financing for Nigerian small and medium enterprises (SME) via the private banking sector.

DBN acts as a wholesale bank providing resources in naira (Nigeria’s currency) on market terms to local banks and microfinance institutions. To date (June 2019), DBN’s loans have allowed the banking sector to lend €190 million over two years to Nigerian SMEs and microenterprises. Otherwise, only 5% of them would have access to credit.

The aim is for DBN to lend up to €4 billion to SMEs. It has been developing a subsidiary dedicated to bank loan guarantees for SMEs since mid-2019, which will complete its support mechanism by the end of 2020.

The country’s urbanization is hobbled by a lack of infrastructure, both in terms of transport and access to water and sanitation. Lagos, the largest city south of the Sahara, has an estimated 25 million residents. 

To promote a harmonious development of cities and territories, AFD is financing projects in several sectors, while assisting Nigeria with the achievement of its climate commitments:

• Water: we are supporting projects in the capitals of seven states, from Lagos to Kano, to improve access to services, empower water authorities and improve governance.
• Urban mobility: in Lagos, we are supporting the renovation of roads to improve the quality of bus services and the construction of two multimodal transit hubs. In Kaduna, we are preparing our first urban transport project.
• Waste collection and treatment: we are financing technical assistance at the federal level to produce a solid waste management master plan. 
• Sport and development: the first project for inclusion through sport is underway in Lagos, in partnership with the NBA. 
• Digital technologies: Lagos has been selected for the African Smart Towns Network (ASToN) to rethink urban mobility using digital technologies.

In addition, AFD is studying various initiatives in the field of cultural and creative industries. This includes reviewing questions of intellectual property. 
 

In Nigeria, 96% of households still use fossil fuels to meet their daily needs for lighting, cooking and heating (World Bank, 2015). Access to electricity remains low and constitutes one aspect of inequality in Nigeria: 86% of households have access to electricity in urban areas, as opposed to only 41% in rural areas. 

AFD is addressing this situation by supporting ongoing sectoral reform. It is targeting the efficiency of the power system, improving the energy mix and developing renewable resources.
For example, we have contributed to upgrading power transmission infrastructure in the federal capital of Abuja and to reinforcing the grid to increase the power transmission capacity for hydro and photovoltaic energy in the Northwest.

In Nigeria, over 60% of the population depends on agriculture for their livelihood. But farmers and their families live in difficult conditions. In addition to limited access to social services, there are obstacles in the way of getting their products to markets, which have an impact on their income. The poor quality of roads for example, causes considerable losses of crops, which rot on the sides of fields.

AFD, in partnership with the World Bank, is supporting the renovation of rural roads and river-crossings in five States (Adamawa, Enugu, Imo, Niger, Osun) to open up rural areas. 

It is also supporting the creation of maintenance funds for rural road infrastructure and community maintenance mechanisms. These maintenance works provide an additional source of income for the most vulnerable in the communities involved. 

What’s more, a new project under preparation in thirteen new states will contribute to improving the infrastructure and services of local markets.

The Northeast of the country is facing a major humanitarian crisis caused by insurgent armed groups around Lake Chad. The crisis has prompted massive displacement of people fleeing the violence, both inside the country and across the borders of the four neighboring countries.

The disintegration of public services, agricultural production and commercial supply networks has plunged these populations into extreme vulnerability. 

The first priority for the authorities and the international community is to provide a humanitarian response, which does not preclude longer-term development. Indeed, both should aim to address the underlying causes of protracted crises and the needs that result.  

AFD is working on several regional projects with the aim of strengthening social cohesion between the affected communities (such as displaced and host), and of supporting the revival of economic activity, especially for agriculture. It is also assisting local authorities in their capacity to restore public services.

In the light of France’s commitment to financing West Africa’s regional agricultural policy in November 2009, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) is benefiting from increased support from AFD for the implementation and adaptation of the common regional agricultural policy, ECOWAP.

In partnership with the European Union, AFD is financing several regional projects that seek to improve food security sector (West Africa Regional Food Security Reserve Support Project) and pest control (Regional Support Project to Fight Fruit Flies in West Africa).

The partnership has recently been extended to themes of pastoralism (Integrated and Sustainable Livestock Farming and Pastoralism in West Africa Project – PEPISAO) and agroecology (West Africa Agroecology Program). 

AFD is helping ECOWAS, its member states and small producers in the region to control the technical, organizational and institutional impacts of the aid programs put in place.

Since December 2018, AFD has been co-chair of the ECOWAP Donors’ Group alongside ECOWAS.