The federal government has expressed readiness to partner with the Abia State government through collaboration with the African Development Bank, AfDB to develop the state.
Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Finance Minister, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo Iweala, revealed this when she led the country’s director of the African Development Bank, Dr. Ousmane Dore and some key officials of the bank on a visit to the state governor, Theodore Orji in his office at Government House, Umuahia, on Wednesday, September 17.
The minister said the visit was a follow up to the AfDB acceptance to partner with the state government. The partnership, Okonjo-Iweala said, would bring a lot of benefits to the state as well as cement Orji’s legacies in the state.
Speaking during the visit, the AfDB Country Director said his bank had proposed an integrated project to tackle rural roads, erosion and waste management in two Abia cities of Aba and Umuahia.
He described the visit, as a preliminary one to see the scenario on the ground. Dore said the AfDB has a tradition of partnering with states, and disclosed that under the partnership with the state, rural roads especially in Aba and Umuahia would be strategically rehabilitated and updated.
Governor Orji assured the AfDB boss that the state would fulfill all its obligations including paying counterpart fund and deployment of its professionals and experts to work with the bank.
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