22 tertiary institutions have received £5.5 billion in grants from the Abdul Samad Rabiu Africa Initiative. ASR Africa is the initiative of Abdul Samad Rabiu, an African businessman and chairman of the BUA Group.
Through its annual $100 million Africa Fund for Sustainable Development and Regeneration, it aims to provide solutions to development problems affecting health, education and social development in Africa.
According to ASR Africa, each of the 22 institutions received 250 million Naira under the ASR Africa Higher Education Grant Scheme.
The beneficiaries of the grant include;
- University of Uyo
- University of Jos
- Nigerian Law School (Lagos)
- Federal College of Education Technology, Gusau
- Federal University Lokoja
- Federal University of Petroleum Resources, Effurun
- Nasarawa State University
- University of Lagos
- University of Port Harcourt
- The Federal University of Technology Minna
- Uthman Dan Fodio University.
Others include Bayero University Kano, Adamawa State University, Babcock University, Federal University, Gashua, the Federal University of Technology Owerri, Al-Qalam University, National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies, Kuru, Baze University, Nigerian Defence Academy, Crescent University, Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike.
The Social Development Specialist of ASR Africa, Edidiong Idang, disclosed the idea would further partner with governments and private sector institutions in Nigeria and across Africa to support education..
She said-
“Our belief is that Africans need to rise to provide solutions to African problems. We focus our intervention in Africa and this is expressed mainly on infrastructure development, equipping facilities, and capacity building for researchers, healthcare practitioners, and community-level service providers.
“We also support the efforts of various Governments in Nigeria and Sub-Saharan Africa across our three thematic areas. The Initiative provides both technical and financial resources to partners.”
cc: Punch Ng
