…55 tasks obtain €20m funding
The European Union and the Federal Government have opened negotiations for a bilateral Science and Technology Cooperation Agreement.
The talks marked a significant step in the direction of strengthening analysis collaboration, accelerating innovation, and deepening strategic cooperation underneath the EU’s Global Gateway technique.
The inception assembly passed off on the Federal Ministry of Innovation, Science and Technology, Abuja, signalling a decisive transfer to construct stronger innovation ecosystems, broaden Nigerian participation in Horizon Europe, and align scientific cooperation with shared priorities for sustainable development and financial transformation.
Proposed areas of cooperation embody agriculture and meals safety, public well being, environmental sustainability and local weather resilience, digital transformation, and house functions.
Nigeria has additionally proposed joint actions to enhance nationwide participation in Horizon Europe, strengthen its analysis funding structure, enhance science and innovation indicators, and improve know-how foresight capability.
EU–Nigeria cooperation in analysis and innovation has expanded steadily lately.
Under Horizon Europe, 55 tasks involving Nigerian entities have obtained roughly €20 million in funding throughout sectors similar to well being, agriculture, meals programs, and the surroundings.
Nigeria additionally participates in 12 tasks underneath the Global Health EDCTP3 programme, attracting round €75 million in whole funding. Fifteen Nigerian organisations are at present concerned in these initiatives.
The negotiations come forward of the second EU–Nigeria Science and Innovation Day, in Lagos.
The proposed settlement displays the commitments of the 2023 EU–Nigeria Strategic Dialogue and the 2024 EU–Nigeria Summit and can align with the AU–EU Innovation Agenda (2023–2033).
It goals to present a long-term political and authorized framework to assess previous cooperation, strengthen institutional partnerships, and collectively outline future actions.
EU Ambassador to Nigeria and ECOWAS, Gautier Mignot, described the launch as each historic and strategic.
Mignot mentioned, “We will not be ranging from scratch. Our researchers already cooperate actively, notably underneath Horizon Europe, the biggest analysis and innovation programme on the earth.
“This agreement will provide the legal and political framework to accelerate and scale up our collaboration. It sends a strong signal that the European Union is committed to deepening its partnership with Nigeria in science, technology, and innovation.”
He famous that the initiative displays the Global Gateway method of constructing sustainable, mutually helpful partnerships that help native capability, strengthen information programs, and ship long-term improvement impression.
Nienke Buisman, Head of Cooperation for Asia, the Pacific, Africa, and the Middle East on the European Commission and EU Chief Negotiator, defined that the framework is designed to be versatile, future-oriented, and constructed on belief.
She mentioned, “This is an overarching framework settlement between the European Union and Nigeria. It units out the aim, rules, and types of cooperation, whereas permitting priorities to evolve over time.
“The framework distinguishes between direct cooperation, such as joint workshops, exchanges, and studies, and indirect cooperation through participation in each other’s programmes. Predictability and trust are essential for long-term collaboration, particularly where knowledge creation and intellectual property are shared.”
Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology, Kingsley Tochukwu Udeh, described the negotiations as a defining second for Nigeria’s analysis ecosystem.
He mentioned: “The historic significance of this settlement is obvious. Nigeria is getting into right into a science and know-how framework with the European Union at a time when innovation is central to our nationwide improvement agenda.
“This agreement will not gather dust. Its implementation will include a joint science and technical cooperation committee, and our commitment will be reflected in measurable outcomes and concrete actions.”
Nigeria’s Chief Negotiator, Tope Toogun, emphasised that the nation would use the method to align worldwide scientific cooperation with nationwide improvement priorities and presidential reform goals.
“In the coming weeks, we will refine the priority areas we wish to present, focusing on sectors that drive economic growth and national competitiveness,” he mentioned.
For Nigeria, the brand new settlement is predicted to enhance entry to European analysis networks, strengthen institutional capability, improve the competitiveness of universities and innovators, and entice better funding into science-driven options.
For the European Union, the partnership deepens engagement with Africa’s largest financial system and considered one of its most dynamic innovation ecosystems.
Nigeria’s youthful inhabitants, increasing analysis base, and quickly rising know-how sector supply sturdy potential for joint options to shared international challenges, together with local weather change, meals safety, well being resilience, and digital inclusion.
The negotiations additionally help the Global Gateway goal of investing in information, innovation, and human capital as essential infrastructure for sustainable improvement and financial alternative.
Both sides have set an bold timeline to conclude discussions by the top of 2026 or early 2027.
An motion plan will likely be developed in parallel to allow early implementation in precedence areas as soon as the framework is signed.
With sturdy political backing and technical groups now starting detailed work, the negotiations place science, know-how, and innovation on the centre of the broader EU–Nigeria partnership.
The course of marks the beginning of a strategic, long-term collaboration constructed on shared ambition, mutual profit, and a standard imaginative and prescient for innovation-led development.