The 2019 session of the Regional Steering Committee (RSC) of Projects and Programmes of the Niger Basin Authority (NBA) was held in the Conference Hall of Sun Beach Hotel of Cotonou, Republic of Benin, from 3rd to 7th September 2019. The purpose of the meeting is to review NBA Projects and Programmes’ achievements as at 31st July 2019 and draft 2020 Annual Work Plans and estimated Budgets (AWPBs). The status report on the implementation of NBA’s 2019-2021 Objective-based Programme Budget (OPB) was also presented. NBA Projects and Programmes on the agenda included: WRDSEM Programme, Niger River Basin Management Project (NRBMP), SATH/NBA Project, AGES Project and (PIDACC/NB) Programme, to name but a few.
In his speech, the Director General of Water and Coordinator of the Benin National Focal Structure, Dr. ADJOMAYI Philippe Armand, stated that the achievement of the objectives of that RSC meeting would, undoubtedly, bring a new dynamic to NBA, both in successfully implementing projects and programmes in the Niger Basin and in mobilizing the financial resources needed to achieve its vision by 2025. The NBA Executive Secretary, Mr. ABDERAHIM Bireme Hamid, on his part, drew participants' attention to the security context and invited them to multiply their efforts for an efficient and effective implementation of projects and programmes in order to provide the basin’s youth and women with more opportunities for accessing to autonomous and sustainable jobs and income generating activities, which is the only way to effectively fight immigration, drug trafficking and insecurity imposed on some of the Member Countries.