At the EU-Nigeria Strategic Meeting on Thursday, Urpilainen made the declaration alongside other representatives from team Europe and Nigeria's Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Abubakar Atiku Bagudu.
The package was the EU's enthusiastic offer to provide dependable and trustworthy links with partner nations. It was a key component of the EU-Nigeria cooperation to progress the nation's green, resilient, and inclusive digital transition under government priorities and the Global Gateway.
A new European plan called Global Gateway aims to reinforce global networks for health, Education, and research while also promoting smart, secure, and clean connections in the energy, transportation, and digital sectors.
According to Commissioner Urpilainen, the purpose of the trip to Nigeria was to deepen already-existing ties, and the new package was intended to promote national priorities and the Global Gateway strategy.
"Building on our long-standing cooperation and in the best spirit of shared responsibility, commitment, and accountability, the EU will continue to invest in our common future and priorities of security, democracy, and prosperity for all -- not least through the package of loans and grants I am signing and launching here today that will benefit Nigerian businesses, farmers, youth, and the society as a whole."
Senator Abubakar Atiku Bagudu, minister of budget and economic planning, responded by stating that the event represented another significant turning point in the history of the development partnership between the EU and Nigeria.
According to Bagudu, the relationship between the EU and Nigeria is one of the most active development partnerships in terms of volume, theme interventions, modalities, and geographic distribution in resource deployment.
He expressed his happiness that the EU-Nigeria Strategic Dialogue was taking place at the beginning of the current administration in Nigeria and said that it would provide opportunity for the partnership's priorities to be properly articulated and consolidated.
Ambroise Fayolle, vice president of the European Investment Bank (EIB), also unveiled two financial deals for Nigeria and the West African region in the fields of entrepreneurship and health. They included EMZOR Pharmaceutical Industries' agreement to quicken malaria treatments and expand access to healthcare throughout the region. The second agreement focuses on enhancing female entrepreneurs' access to capital.
"The partnership with EMZOR Pharmaceutical Industries is a significant step towards accelerating malaria treatments and healthcare access across the region while reducing reliance on the importation of necessary medicines," said Falolle.
"We are honored to support the growth of a pioneering company devoted to improving the antimalarial production and supply chain.
"At the core of our work in Africa is promoting entrepreneurship. With a new loan facility with Access Bank, our goal is to increase female entrepreneurs' access to capital, spur employment growth, and encourage sustainable business practices that are in line with the green economy's top priorities.
"The EI was the first multilateral development bank to adopt the 2X criteria for gender finance, and we congratulate Access Bank's management for their leadership in this space."
The package, which was created jointly by the EU and Nigeria, is meant to push new programs through Global Gateway. They include Access to health services (€45 million), Climate Smart Agriculture (€29 million), and Sustainable Energy (€37 million).
Additionally, €5.4 million has been set aside to help youth education development and education in the North West region. This would be started in order to support the development of teacher capacity and better teaching policies.
In addition to these areas of assistance, the package will provide support for border management and reintegrating returnees to the tune of €28.4 million, disarming, demobilizing, and reintegrating Boko Haram fighters in the North East region to the tune of €20 million, and improving the criminal justice system, access to justice, and the fight against corruption to the tune of €46 million.
