People shopping for Eid-El Fitri celebration at Abubakar Gumi Central Market in Kaduna, yesterday.

The UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) and the World Bank have signed a Declaration of Intent to establish Network of Excellence on Land Governance in Africa (NELGA) to secure land rights.
This is contained in a joint statement issued from the venue of the ongoing Third International Conference on Financing for Development in Addis Ababa on Monday.
In a statement on the ECA website, it stated that the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) also signed the declaration.
The Statement stated that NELGA would complement and support the Land Policy Initiative (LPI), a tripartite partnership of the African Union Commission (AUC), African Development Bank (AfDB) and ECA.
It quoted ECA Deputy Executive-Secretary, Ms Giovanie Biha, as saying:“ the commission welcomed the new agreement to establish NELGA and it will respond to the call by Agenda 2063.
“It will enhance and sustain investments in higher education, science technology and research.
“The partnership is in line with ECA’s strategy to promote partnerships with development partners to generate knowledge.
“It will underpin by robust statistics, and to enhance dissemination of findings and best practices for enhanced land policy development,’’ Biha said.
Also present at the signing in the Ethiopian capital, the statement said that the German Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development, Dr Gerd Müller, praised the NELGA initiative.
“Secure access to land and other natural resources is of vital importance for the people in rural areas of Africa.
“Assuring that decision makers know how to develop a fair, transparent and development oriented land policy in a participatory way.
It will be an important contribution for food security and growth in the agricultural sectors, especially for smallholders,” it added.
Representing the World Bank, Vice President, Dr Joachim Amsberg, was quoted in the statement as saying that improving land governance was a smart development investment.
He said that it would help to promote investment and agricultural productivity; it is critical for financial sector development and for controlled urban expansion; and it improves domestic revenue generation.
“To the extent that it builds analytical capacity, supports monitoring, encourages policy dialogue, and facilitates integration of land governance in country strategies.
“NELGA will help unlock much larger investments for operations towards strengthening land governance.
“The World Bank is fully committed to support this effort by helping to build capacity for data and, research,” the statement quoted Amsberg as saying.
In addition, the statement said that NELGA would support the African Union’s Agenda on Land, in particular the use of the “Framework and Guidelines on Land Policy in Africa.”
The statement said it would also support the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests in the Context of National Food Security (VGGT).
“ It is designed to strengthen human and institutional capacities with regards to the development; implementation and monitoring of land policies in Africa that foster economic growth, are equitable, gender sensitive and pay special attention to marginalized groups.
“NELGA will function as a network among leading African academic and research institutions and liaise with civil society, private sector, land sector practitioners, and decision makers to address gaps in training, statistics and research on land governance.
“A Scholarship programme implemented by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) will create new training and research opportunities for African land practitioners and researchers.
“Germany and the World Bank reaffirmed their support for the Land Policy Initiative in this process and appealed to other partners to help finance it,’’ it stated.