The Independent National Facilitation Unit (INFU) of the ACE Project is made up of various units, which are responsible for the smooth running of the Project. It is domiciled within the National Universities Commission (NUC) and guarantees that the ACEs operate within Project guidelines.
The INFU liaises with relevant stakeholders, such as the World Bank, Association of African Universities (AAU), which is the Regional Facilitation Unit (RFU) of the ACE Project, and the French Development Agency (AFD), a Project co-donor, to facilitate, train and supervise the ACEs on fiduciary matters, monitoring and evaluation as well as render technical assistance to the Centres, on a national level. The INFU gives updates to the 17 Nigerian Centres and receives valuable feedback from them, regularly, to ensure that the ACEs function within Project guidelines. It also liaises with the RFU to coordinate the Project and render regional project coordination assistance to countries that do not have any ACE. Funds for the ACEs are usually channelled through the INFU, which, in turn, disburses them to the Centres, following defined procedures.
The INFU successfully facilitated the implementation of the first phase of the ACE Project in Nigeria and is positioned to support the Centres, under ACE Impact. To ensure that Project goals are met, the INFU plans to leverage other World Bank projects under its purview, such as the Nigerian Research and Education Network (NgREN) and the Sustainable Procurement, Environmental and Social Standards Enhancement (SPESSE) Projects, to share resources, thereby minimising cost.
This site provides you with every information you need on the ACE Project in Nigeria from inception to date. For more information and a better understanding of the Centres’ focus areas, I urge you to visit the ACEs’ websites, to fully understand their efforts towards tackling challenges in sub-Saharan Africa.