(L-R) Franz Fayot, Luxembourg's Minister for Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Affairs; Hassoumi Massoudou, Niger's Minister of State and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation;
Credit: MAEE
From 8 to 9 February 2022, Luxembourg's Minister for Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Affairs, Franz Fayot, made a working visit to Niger.
The visit to Niger, a long-standing partner country of Luxembourg Development Cooperation, was devoted to the implementation of the fourth Indicative Cooperation Programme (Programme Indicatif de Coopération - PIC IV, 2022 - 26), signed in May 2021 during the visit of Mohamed Bazoum, President of Niger, to Luxembourg.
Minister Fayot met Hassoumi Massoudou, Minister of State and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation and Dr Ahmat Jidod, Minister of Finance of Niger, to discuss the next steps in the implementation of PIC IV.
Ministers Fayot and Massoudou subsequently signed the first programme of the PIC IV, the "Support Project for the Development of Inclusive and Sustainable Finance in Niger". This is the largest programme in the field of inclusive finance in a Luxembourg development cooperation partner country, with a budget of €15 million. Inclusive finance is considered one of the main levers of socio-economic development and poverty reduction. The implementation will be done by ADA Microfinance, a Luxembourg based NGO specialising in microfinance, together with the Lux-Development agency.
Minister Fayot was also received by Mohamed Bazoum, President of the Republic of Niger. Minister Fayot congratulated the Presidency of Niger for the excellent implementation of the previous PIC III and underlined the ties of friendship that have bound Niger and Luxembourg for more than 30 years.
The PIC IV will further strengthen these links, being endowed with a budget of €145 million, placing Niger at the head of the privileged partner countries of Luxembourg Cooperation.
Minister Fayot also had an interview with Ouhoumoudou Mahamadou, Prime Minister of Niger. The exchange focused in particular on food insecurity in Niger, where Luxembourg was among the first responders with financial support of €1 million following the appeal for solidarity to the international community by Minister Mahamadou in November 2021.
The Minister's delegation then visited the Logistics Center of the Niger Red Cross, as well as the Hippodrome of Niamey, sheltering 300 families displaced following the historic floods in 2020.
On the sidelines of a gala dinner offered by the Nigerien Presidency, Minister Fayot also had the opportunity to discuss with Ignazio Cassis, President of the Swiss Confederation and Denisa-Elena Ionete, Ambassador of the European Union in Niger.
