EU, Nigeria sign EUR 35m anti-corruption grant

(LAGOS) - Nigeria and the European Union have signed a deal which grants Africa's most populous nation 35 million euros ($46 million) for the fight against corruption.

The accord was jointly signed late Monday by Nigeria's National Planning Minister Shamsuddeen Usman and the Head of Delegation of the European Union to Nigeria, David MacRae, the EU office said in the statement.

The deal is part of a 98-million-euro package the EU delegation said it will commit to financing three projects in the fields of justice, anti-corruption and drugs, the EU spokeswoman in the Nigerian office, Ugo Sokari-George, told AFP.

"The grant will be disbursed over a five-year period," she said.

The projects will be implemented by the UN Office on Drug and Crime.

"The overall objective of these three projects is to promote good governance and contribute to Nigeria's efforts in enhancing transparency, accountability and combating corruption, contributing to the reform of the justice sector and addressing drug-related issues," the statement said.

Nigeria, Africa's largest oil producer, is regularly ranked among the most corrupt countries in the world.