The Presidency on Tuesday unveiled the North West Climate Fund to finance the region’s response to flooding, drought and other climate pressures.
This is as the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Community Engagement (North-West), Abdullahi Yakasai, said the fund is targeting about N20 billion over the next four years.
Yakasai spoke to State House correspondents on the sidelines of the North West Climate Summit on Tuesday at the State House Conference Centre, Abuja, where the fund, a climate academy and a climate investment marketplace, was unveiled.
The event was themed ‘Accelerating Global Climate Solutions: Unlocking Land, Water & Energy Systems.’
He said the money would be raised for the region and channelled through his office to tackle climate problems, including flooding, drought, migration and the shift to renewable energy.
“We’re looking at the region of N20bn in the next four years. So all these are aimed at easing the problems of climate, because this is what is bedevilling the whole world.
“The whole world now is focused on climate change. Even climate financing came up after COVID-19, so the whole world realised the need for climate financing, and we’re working to see how we can tap into that and help the region to alleviate all the issues around climate change,” he stated.
According to the summit brochure obtained by our correspondent, the fund will mobilise grants, impact capital and carbon finance for climate resilience and women-led green enterprises.
The presidential aide said the summit rests on three pillars: the marketplace, where states and local governments can list their climate programmes for development partners and financial institutions; the academy, which aims to train 10,000 youths in the region; and the fund.
He described it as the first regional climate summit of its kind in Nigeria and across Africa, and said it was organised with the North West Governors’ Forum and the North West Development Commission.
Asked how the gathering would help Nigeria’s case at the coming United Nations climate summit in Turkey, he said the outcomes of the discussions would be taken up to see where the region could “merge our strength” at the international meeting.
The lead consultant for the North West Climate Academy, Dr Mea Boykins, said the academy was in its early stages and would admit its first students within nine months.
“We have several partners, including the Georgia House of Representatives, the Lagos Business School, NCIC, and the Institute of Global Negotiators based in Switzerland.
“Even the BBC is interested in partnering with us to give us some data for the students.
“We hope to launch a programme within the next nine months with students. Our goal is to train 10,000 students,” she explained.
Boykins said the marketplace already held “bankable projects” for the region, which governors and commissioners could submit to investors.
She noted that investors from the United Kingdom, the United States and across Africa were ready to fund them.
The Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Climate Change, Kama Nkemkanma, who represented Speaker Tajudeen Abbas, said climate change was no longer only an environmental concern but a development issue affecting food security, water resources, infrastructure and the stability of communities.
He said irregular rainfall, prolonged dry spells, desertification, soil degradation and flooding were threatening livelihoods in the North-West.
He said the cost of prevention and preparedness was “lower than the cost of rebuilding after disaster”, and that the climate fund must earn confidence through transparent project selection and accountable financial management.
Vice President Kashim Shettima was represented by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Regional Development Programmes, Mariam Masha.
The 2026 Annual Flood Outlook, presented in Abuja in April by the Minister of Water Resources and Sanitation, Joseph Utsev, put 33 states and the Federal Capital Territory at high risk.
It identified 14,118 communities in 266 local government areas as high-risk.
Of the seven North-West states, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Kebbi, Sokoto and Zamfara were listed as high-risk.