The federal ministry of water resources, in collaboration with the Niger Basin Authority (NBA) on Wednesday held a national advocacy and consultative workshop in Abuja, bringing together actors within the framework of the “Establishment and Operationalization of the Regional Climate Change Adaptation Fund/Payment of Environmental Services in the Niger Basin.”
Declaring the workshop open, the minister of water resources, Engr. Suleiman Adamu, who was represented by the permanent secretary, Mrs. Didi Esther Walson-Jack, reiterated that the workshop was being held as part of the implemention of the Programme for the Integrated Development and Adaptation to Climate Change (PIDACC) in the Niger Basin, facilitated by NBA and funded by development partners, led by the African Development Bank (AfDB).
The minister said PIDACC was the establishment of an autonomous, endogenous sustainable financing mechanism for the NBA. He added that that the NBA, which was created in 1964 by the nine countries sharing the active basin to promote cooperation among member countries and ensure integrated development of the Niger Basin, as well as protect the ecosystem, could not sustain this laudable initiative due to paucity of funds, which resulted from delay in member country’s’ contribution of payments and dwindling support from international development partners.
According to him, “the Summit of Heads of State and Government of NBA in its Decision N0. 2 of the 11th Summit, held in Cotonou, Benin in 2016, approved the establishment of the Regional Climate Adaptation Fund and the Payment for Environment Services (RCCAF/PES), with a view to providing a platform for alternative financing for the NBA”.
In order to achieve this objective, the mechanism is expected to include, among others, the establishment of taxes of the user-pays type, firstly targeting the hydropower sector, and the polluter pays type for mining and industrial activities.
Adamu noted that once the objectives of RCCAF are achieved, there would be effective and efficient contribution to the financing of NBA activities and sustainable financing to safeguard and preserve the economy and natural resources in the Basin.
In his welcome address, the director, water resources planning and technical support services in the ministry, who is also the NFS co-ordinator, Mr S. M Babarinde, said the NBA, with nine members drawn from Benin, Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire, Cameroon, Guinea, Mali, Niger, Nigeria and Chad, js an institution with a mandate to sustainably manage the Niger Basin ecosystems through integrated management of water resources.
He further noted that NBA has before it a daunting task of achieving its mandate, and to achieve this mandate, it would require sustainable financing.
In her remarks, the president of NBA ad-hoc committee, Christine Gbedji-Vyaho, said to reverse the trend of degradation of natural resources and climate change, it is imperative to find financing resources for sustainable investment for the development of the Niger Basin Authority.
In attendance were the representatives of the nine member countries, directors of the ministry, civil society groups, non- governmental organizations and other water resources stakeholders.
