EU Releases €2.3m to Fight Cholera as Nigeria Gets €1.5m

…61,888 cases, 1,230 deaths recorded across Africa in five months

By: Michael Mike

The European Union has released €2.3 million in emergency humanitarian funding to Nigeria and three other African countries to contain the spread of cholera, as the disease continues to pose a major public health threat across the continent.

Nigeria is to receive the largest share of the intervention, €1.5 million, to strengthen its response to the outbreak, including the deployment of additional intervention teams, provision of cholera kits and intensified water, sanitation and hygiene measures.

The European Commission announced the funding on Monday, saying the money would also support epidemiological surveillance, particularly in hard-to-reach areas, improve case management and strengthen risk communication and community sensitisation.

The intervention comes against the backdrop of a significant cholera burden across Africa. The World Health Organisation reported 61,888 cholera cases and 1,230 deaths across 16 African countries between January 1 and May 31, 2026. Nigeria alone recorded 6,860 cases and 80 deaths during the period covered by the WHO report.

The WHO data showed that Nigeria recorded 5,798 new cases and 54 deaths in May alone, making it one of the countries reporting the highest number of cases in the African Region that month.

The latest EU intervention is therefore expected to provide additional resources for Nigeria’s efforts to prevent further transmission and reduce deaths from the disease, particularly in communities where access to safe water, sanitation and healthcare remains limited.

Under the Nigerian component of the funding, the EU said intervention teams would be increased, while essential cholera supplies would be provided to affected communities.

The funding will also support the treatment of public water points and household water, intensify disease surveillance in inaccessible areas and strengthen measures for detecting and managing cases.

Risk communication and community sensitisation will equally be expanded to help communities understand how cholera is transmitted and the steps required to prevent infection.

Cameroon will receive €100,000 for outbreak containment and case management.

The allocation will support additional humanitarian personnel, essential medicines, additional cholera treatment units and oral rehydration points in some of the country’s worst-affected villages.

The Central African Republic will receive €500,000 to scale up case management and vaccination, alongside water, sanitation and hygiene interventions.

The funds will also strengthen risk communication, community engagement, surveillance and case detection, while supporting dignified and safe burials.

Chad will receive €200,000 to help break the chain of transmission through improved access to water, sanitation and hygiene, as well as community support for surveillance and case management.

The EU Commissioner for Preparedness and Crisis Management, Hadja Lahbib, said the emergency funding was necessary because cholera continues to threaten lives in communities without adequate access to safe water and healthcare.

“Cholera is preventable and treatable. Yet it still threatens lives when people lack something as basic as safe water and healthcare,” Lahbib said.

She added that the intervention was coming at a time when humanitarian needs were increasing while available resources were shrinking.

“Europe is not looking away. This emergency funding will help our partners act quickly, contain the outbreaks and protect the communities most at risk,” she said.

Cholera is an acute diarrhoeal infection caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. It is most commonly transmitted through contaminated food or water and can cause severe dehydration and death within hours in serious cases if treatment is not provided.

The WHO has warned that cholera outbreaks are increasingly difficult to control because of factors including conflict, population displacement, climate-related events, poor infrastructure and limited access to healthcare, particularly in rural and flood-affected communities.

The scale of the 2026 outbreak has also highlighted the continuing vulnerability of African countries to diseases linked to inadequate water and sanitation infrastructure.

WHO data show that the Democratic Republic of Congo recorded the highest number of cases in Africa between January and May, with 28,567 cases and 815 deaths, followed by South Sudan with 7,712 cases and Mozambique with 7,500 cases. Nigeria’s 6,860 cases placed it among the countries with the highest reported burdens during the period.

The WHO has cautioned, however, that reported figures may be affected by under-reporting, reporting delays and differences in surveillance systems and case definitions across countries.

Nigeria has also been receiving broader international support to strengthen its capacity to detect and respond to disease outbreaks. In May, the EU and WHO launched a €4.2 million programme aimed at strengthening selected Nigerian public health institutions, including their ability to detect outbreaks earlier and share information more rapidly.

With the latest €1.5 million cholera allocation, the immediate priority is expected to be containing transmission, expanding access to treatment and ensuring that communities at greatest risk have access to safe water, sanitation and reliable public health information.

The EU said the broader emergency response was intended to help its humanitarian partners move quickly, contain the outbreaks and protect communities most at risk.

EU Releases €2.3m to Fight Cholera as Nigeria Gets €1.5m

FG Readies 10,000 E-Vehicles for Northeast, Targets 100,000 Jobs

…Maiduguri plant set for Tinubu’s inauguration as NEDC links green transport to rural economy

By: Michael Mike

The Federal Government is set to launch a major electric mobility programme in the North-East, with an assembly plant in Maiduguri, Borno State, preparing to roll out 10,000 electric vehicles and tricycles in an initiative projected to generate employment for up to 100,000 people during the assembly process.

The Minister for Regional Development, Abubakar Momoh, disclosed this yesterday after inspecting the electric vehicle assembly facility being managed by the North-East Development Commission (NEDC) ahead of its planned inauguration by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

Momoh said the project had moved substantially beyond the planning stage, with nearly all the targeted vehicles already at the facility and assembly operations underway.

He said the fleet, comprising electric buses, taxis and tricycles, would be deployed across the six states of the North-East, with charging infrastructure incorporated into the programme.

The minister described the project as a significant demonstration of the administration’s transformation agenda, particularly its efforts to combine infrastructure development, youth employment, cleaner transportation and economic recovery in the region.

“Apart from the fact that it will help to improve commuting of people, and create more job opportunities for the youths,” Momoh said, adding that the assembly process itself was already generating employment.

One of the most significant aspects of the initiative is its potential employment impact.

According to the minister, the project’s Director of Operations briefed him that the assembly of the 10,000 vehicles could provide employment for not less than 100,000 people before the target is completed.

The claim places the Maiduguri project at the centre of the Federal Government’s broader effort to make infrastructure spending translate into direct economic opportunities for young Nigerians, rather than merely producing physical assets.

The vehicles are also expected to create jobs beyond the assembly line through transportation operations, servicing, maintenance and supporting infrastructure once deployed across the region.

The project has an additional dimension that could prove particularly important to the North-East’s predominantly agrarian economy.

Momoh said some of the electric tricycles were designed to carry both passengers and agricultural produce, potentially allowing farmers in remote communities to move their commodities to urban markets more efficiently.

He therefore directed attention to the relationship between the e-vehicle programme and ongoing rural road construction.

According to him, the combination of improved roads and appropriate transport could strengthen the connection between rural producers and city markets.

The minister specifically urged the NEDC leadership to ensure that communities along newly rehabilitated road corridors were not excluded from the distribution of the vehicles.

He said rural residents needed the vehicles to evacuate agricultural produce from their communities to urban centres.

The Maiduguri project is not a new policy idea. The NEDC announced plans in 2024 to introduce 10,000 electric vehicles across the North-East as part of an effort to modernise transportation, reduce carbon emissions and respond to climate-change concerns.

The original plan envisaged a mix of nine-seater solar-powered tricycles, four-seater taxis and 40-seater buses, with deployment across Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Taraba and Yobe states.

The commission had said the programme would be implemented in two phases of 5,000 vehicles each, while charging points would be established across the six states. Plans also included solar-power installations along major routes to support charging infrastructure.

The current inspection indicates that the initiative has now reached the assembly and deployment stage, bringing the long-planned regional mobility scheme closer to implementation.

For the North-East, the project comes against the backdrop of years of infrastructure deficits, disrupted economic activity and major transportation challenges.

The region comprises vast rural areas where poor transport connectivity can raise the cost of moving farm produce and limit access to markets, schools, healthcare and other essential services.

The NEDC was established specifically to coordinate reconstruction, rehabilitation and development interventions in the six North-Eastern states.

The electric mobility programme consequently fits into a wider regional-development strategy rather than being merely a vehicle procurement exercise.

The commission’s plan to link the vehicles with rural roads is particularly significant because better roads without affordable transport can leave rural communities economically isolated, while vehicles without passable roads cannot deliver their full value.

The initiative also places the North-East within Nigeria’s broader transition towards cleaner transportation.

Nigeria has been pursuing electric mobility as part of its energy-transition strategy, with the Federal Government increasingly promoting local assembly, charging infrastructure and technology transfer.

In January 2026, the National Automotive Design and Development Council disclosed that the Federal Government had signed an agreement with South Korea’s Asia Economic Development Committee for an electric vehicle manufacturing project and charging infrastructure. That separate national initiative envisages an eventual production capacity of 300,000 vehicles and about 10,000 jobs, alongside development of battery, component and charging ecosystems.

The broader policy objective is to move Nigeria beyond dependence on imported vehicles and fossil-fuel-powered transportation by developing local manufacturing capacity and the technical workforce required to sustain an electric-vehicle economy.

During his Maiduguri tour, Momoh also inspected rural road projects, including the Ngwom/Kushebe/Gadamari corridor towards Gongulong, and said he had observed substantial improvement.

He linked the road projects directly to the e-vehicle programme, arguing that improved roads would increase the usefulness of the vehicles, particularly for agricultural communities.

The minister also inspected the ongoing construction of the NEDC headquarters in Maiduguri and expressed satisfaction with the pace of work.

He said the project, which was at basement level during his previous visit, had progressed considerably, with the basement completed and another section of the building already under construction. He expressed confidence that the headquarters would be completed within 18 to 24 months.

For the Tinubu administration and the NEDC, the forthcoming inauguration will mark only the beginning of the real test.

The success of the programme will ultimately depend on whether the 10,000 vehicles remain operational after deployment, whether charging infrastructure is reliable, whether spare parts and technical expertise are locally available, and whether rural communities receive a meaningful share of the fleet.

If those challenges are effectively addressed, the Maiduguri project could become more than a transport intervention: it could provide the North-East with a new industrial ecosystem built around electric mobility, youth employment, clean energy, rural commerce and local technical skills.

And with nearly 10,000 vehicles already at the assembly facility, the region’s long-awaited shift towards electric mobility appears to be moving from policy promise to production reality.

FG Readies 10,000 E-Vehicles for Northeast, Targets 100,000 Jobs

China Approves RMB 200m Grant for Nigeria as Envoy Meets Foreign Ministry Permanent Secretary

By: Michael Mike

China has announced a RMB 200 million grant to Nigeria to support the implementation of development projects agreed upon by the two governments, in a fresh demonstration of Beijing’s expanding economic partnership with Abuja.

The announcement was made on Thursday by the Chinese Ambassador to Nigeria, H.E. Yu Dunhai, during a meeting with the Permanent Secretary of Nigeria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Dr. Dunoma Umar Ahmed, in Abuja.

Yu said the grant was part of China’s continuing support for Nigeria’s national development and economic growth, stressing that the assistance would be deployed to projects jointly agreed by the two governments.

He said the latest commitment underscored the depth of relations between both countries, which have maintained diplomatic ties for 55 years.

According to the envoy, China-Nigeria relations have remained at the forefront of China-Africa relations and, under the strategic leadership of Chinese President Xi Jinping and Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the bilateral relationship has entered a new phase of high-quality development.

Yu said Beijing and Abuja had maintained close communication and coordination while working to implement agreements reached by their two leaders, as well as the outcomes of the 2024 Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) Beijing Summit.

He added that the objective was to ensure that the benefits of bilateral cooperation translated into tangible improvements in the lives of citizens of both countries.

Responding, the Nigerian Permanent Secretary thanked the Chinese government for what he described as its concrete support for Nigeria’s economic and social development.

Ahmed said the RMB 200 million grant demonstrated China’s commitment as a major global partner and reflected the deep friendship between Nigeria and China.

He assured that Nigeria would ensure the effective utilisation of the grant and work closely with China to implement the bilateral agreements and common understandings reached by both governments.

The Permanent Secretary said such cooperation would further strengthen Nigeria-China relations while delivering greater benefits to the peoples of both countries.

The fresh financial commitment comes as Abuja and Beijing continue to deepen cooperation in infrastructure, trade, investment, development financing and other strategic sectors, with both governments seeking to translate their comprehensive strategic partnership into concrete development outcomes.

China Approves RMB 200m Grant for Nigeria as Envoy Meets Foreign Ministry Permanent Secretary