Rice Value Chain: ECOWAS, AfDB sign $12 Million Grant Agreement.
By Ferdinand Olise
The Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS, Commission, and the African Development Bank (AfDB), have signed a $12 million grant agreement to implement the Rice Resilient Value Chains Development Project (REWARD) in West Africa. This was done at the ECOWAS Commission Headquarters in Abuja, Nigeria, on Monday.
The President of the ECOWAS Commission. Dr. Alieu Omar Touray, signed the agreement on behalf of the Commission, while the AfDB Director General for Nigeria, Dr. Abdul Kamara, signed on behalf of the Bank’s President, Dr. Akinwumi ADESINA.
Dr. Touray expressed the Commission’s gratitude to the Bank for the grant, and reaffirmed ECOWAS’ commitment to implementing the project quickly.
Meanwhile, Dr. Kamara restated the Bank’s commitment to supporting ECOWAS in achieving food security and resilience in the region, in line with the ECOWAS Vision 2020.
The REWARD project which aims to promote public and private investments in rice value chains will be based on relevant successful business models.
This initiative is part of a regional rice development program financed by the AfDB across 15 West African countries.
It is worthy to note that, this multinational, multiphase program is valued at US $650 million, and aims to promote rice sovereignty in all the ECOWAS Member States.
