Dr. Peter Fischer-Bollin, KAS Head of Division Analysis and Consulting, and Minister for State, Budget and National Planning Prince Clem Agba

Dr. Peter Fischer-Bollin, KAS Head of Division Analysis and Consulting, visited Nigeria last week in order to meet with important partners of KAS and inform himself on current developments in the country. On Tuesday, he met Prince Clem Agba, Minister of State, Budget and National Planning, to discuss challenges and further potential of development cooperation in Nigeria. On Wednesday, he gave an opening address at the KAS Planning Workshop for Speakers of the 14 Partner State Houses of Assembly in respect to this year’s KAS capacity building seminars on democratic governance. Furthermore, he met with Hon. Toby Okechukwu, Deputy Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, at the National Assembly, representing the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Femi Gbajabiamlia. They elaborated on the past and future collaboration between KAS and the House of Representatives and the challenges facing the House ahead of the 2023 general elections. Deepening the understanding of parliamentary work in Nigeria, Dr. Fischer-Bollin met with the Director General of the National Institute of Legal and Democratic Studies (NILDS), Prof. Abubakar Sulaiman, discussing the challenges of democratic governance and the rule of law in Nigeria. NILDS is a close partner of KAS regarding capacity building and training of legislators on national and state level as well as other interventions aimed at strengthening democratic governance in Nigeria. Moreover, Dr. Fischer-Bollin took the opportunity to exchange views with other German stakeholders and met with the German Deputy Ambassador to Nigeria, Martin Huth, and the Country Director Nigeria and ECOWAS from the German development agency GIZ, Ina Hommers, amongst others.

Accompanied by the KAS Resident Representative, Dr. Vladimir Kreck, Dr. Fischer-Bollin spent the second half of the week in Lagos to meet with relevant stakeholders and partners of KAS. On Thursday, he visited the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs where he discussed foreign affairs matters concerning Nigeria as well as the country’s role in the international sphere with the Director-General, Prof. Eghosa Emmanuel Osaghae. Furthermore, he met with senior representatives of the banking and finance sector to exchange views on trade, investment and doing business in Nigeria. On Friday, he discussed challenges, opportunities and future potentials of German-Nigerian economic relations with senior representatives of German and Nigerian companies. Dr. Fischer-Bollin rounded up his stay in Nigeria with a visit to the innovation lab Co-Creation Hub, where he conducted talks with various representatives of the quickly growing Nigerian startup landscape.