By Joyce Ekeh
The Korea International Cooperation Agency, KOICA, has disclosed that its development cooperation portfolio in Nigeria has reached $82.74 million since the establishment of its country office in 2008, as it plans to expand support for agriculture, youth employment, education and micro, small and medium enterprises, MSMEs.
Senior Deputy Country Director, KOICA, Ki-Hyun Baik, disclosed this yesterday in Abuja at a media engagement forum themed, “Showcasing KOICA’s Development Impact in Nigeria.”
Baik said the agency was developing a new five-year strategic approach for Nigeria, which would be consolidated into a Country Development Programme, CDP, to guide its interventions over the next five years.
He said KOICA’s previous country strategy focused on strengthening the non-oil sector and building the capacity of young people, government officials and other professionals.
According to him, the agency is preparing a new project in the agriculture sector, while existing programmes in education, youth employment and MSME development will continue.
Baik said: “Right now, we are in the process of creating a new strategic approach that is going to be lasting for five years, which is going to be consolidated into a strategic paper titled CDP, Country Development Programme.
“For the youth, we are going to continue strengthening education and youth employment and MSME creation in Nigeria. That activity is going to be continuing for the next five years.”
He said KOICA had worked with the Nigerian Government and other stakeholders in education, agriculture, governance, digital transformation, entrepreneurship and skills development.
Country Director, KOICA, Eunsub Kim, said development cooperation was about working with partners to address real needs and create lasting change.
Kim listed the Green Jobs for Youth in Resilient Agrifood Systems Programme, Start-up Digital Innovation Academy Project, Smart School Project Phase II and Digital Governance Project among KOICA’s major interventions in Nigeria.
He said approximately 2,000 Nigerian government officials had benefited from the CIAT Fellowship Programme, through which participants strengthened their knowledge and skills and learned from Korea’s development experience.
On digital governance, KOICA said it had supported training for state government officials in Bauchi and Jigawa on e-Government Master Plan development. The agency also supported training for IT professionals, development and handover of an Enterprise Architecture portal to NITDA and the soft launch of Nigeria’s Government Service Portal.
Speaking on the planned Abuja Centre for Entrepreneurship, Head of Inclusive Growth, UNDP Nigeria, Claire Henshaw, said the centre would provide a platform for young people and businesses to develop digital skills and improve their operations.
Henshaw said UNDP, KOICA and SMEDAN had recently broken ground for the construction of the centre, which would help young Nigerians acquire skills, use digital tools and artificial intelligence, and scale their businesses.
She said SMEDAN’s involvement would improve access to the facility, while UNDP would support its sustainability and technical capacity.
Also, UBEC Executive Secretary, Dr Aisha Garba, said KOICA’s partnership with the commission had strengthened the integration of technology and digital learning into Nigeria’s basic education system.
Garba said the first phase of the Smart Education Project supported digital content development studios, teacher and school administrator training, and digital learning resources in mathematics and science.
She said the intervention had contributed to the digitisation of more than 2,000 public schools, while Phase II was expected to expand digital education to more schools, teachers and learners.
