By Awyetu Asabe Hope
The Presidency has unveiled a N20 billion climate fund and a plan to create 10,000 green jobs to tackle flooding, drought and other climate threats in the North-West.
The initiative was announced Tuesday by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Community Engagement (North-West), Abdullahi Yakasai, at the North-West Climate Summit at the State House Conference Centre, Abuja.
Yakasai said the North-West Climate Fund will mobilise N20 billion over four years through grants, impact capital and carbon finance to support climate resilience and women-led green enterprises.
The summit, themed ‘Accelerating Global Climate Solutions: Unlocking Land, Water and Energy Systems,’ also launched a climate academy and a climate investment marketplace.
The academy will train 10,000 youths in green skills, while the marketplace will enable states and local governments to pitch bankable climate projects to development partners and financial institutions.
Lead consultant for the academy, Dr Mea Boykins, said the first cohort will be admitted within nine months, adding that the marketplace already has projects attracting interest from investors in the UK, US and Africa.
Chairman of the House Committee on Climate Change, Kama Nkemkanma, who represented Speaker Tajudeen Abbas, said climate change now threatens food security, water, infrastructure and community stability in the region, citing irregular rainfall, desertification and flooding.
He called for transparent project selection and accountable management of the fund, noting that prevention is cheaper than rebuilding after disasters.
The summit was organised with the North-West Governors’ Forum and the North-West Development Commission.
The fund comes as the 2026 Annual Flood Outlook lists 33 states and the FCT as high-risk, with six North-West states — Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Kebbi, Sokoto and Zamfara — among the worst hit.
