As part of its mission to support Member States in their quest for sustainable and inclusive development, the ECOWAS Commission has awarded a grant of 75,000 dollars to Guinea to strengthen its national human capital development strategy.

The grant agreement was signed on Thursday 21 November in Conakry by Her Excellency Mrs Damtien TCHINTCHIBIDJA, Vice-President of the ECOWAS Commission, and Mr Ismael NABE, Minister of Planning and International Cooperation of Guinea, in the presence of His Excellency Amadou Oury BAH, Prime Minister, Head of Government of Guinea.

This signing is the fulfilment of the commitment made by the Heads of State and Government when they adopted the ECOWAS Integrated Regional Strategy for Human Capital Development in July 2022. At this meeting, the Heads of State invited Member States to quickly adopt national strategies aligned with the Regional Human Capital Strategy (2020-2030).

In her speech, the Vice-President of the ECOWAS Commission underlined the importance of this partnership: “The development of human capital is a strategic priority for ECOWAS. It is the foundation on which economic growth, social resilience and stability are built. This grant reflects our commitment to support Guinea in implementing ambitious and inclusive programmes”.

The Minister of Planning and International Cooperation, on his part, expressed the appreciation of the Guinean government for this significant support: “This partnership with ECOWAS strengthens our determination to invest in our greatest asset: our people. This grant will accelerate our efforts to build a more prosperous and equitable Guinea”.

Guinea is one of the countries targeted to receive this grant in 2024, after Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Liberia and Togo.

To date, 9 Member States have already received the ECOWAS grant to help them draw up their national Human Capital Development strategies.

In addition to financial support, ECOWAS provides technical support to Member States for the implementation of their national Human Capital Development strategy programmes in the following areas: advocacy and communication, resource mobilisation, capacity building, monitoring and evaluation.

For reference, the Regional Human Capital Development Strategy focuses on four priority sectors: Health and Nutrition Education; Education, Skills and Labour Market Participation; Entrepreneurship, Financial Inclusion and the Digital Economy.