A delegation from the Embassy of Burkina Faso in Nigeria, led by the country’s Ambassador to Nigeria, HE Pascal Gouba, accompanied by Second Counsellor Desire Sawadogo and Head of Protocol, Zakaria Sambare, visited IITA to discuss their country’s interest in partnering with the Institute.
The proposal for a collaborative partnership with IITA follows IITA’s mission trip to some government ministries in Burkina Faso two years ago for potential resource mobilization. “This visit to IITA has been on our priority list for a long time, and we are excited it finally happened,” he said.
IITA Deputy Director General, Corporate Services, Hilde Koper, gave a welcome remark as IITA West Africa Hub Director Prof Michael Abberton gave an overview of IITA research activities in West Africa. Head of IITA Capacity Development Office, Zaïnatou Soré, who represented IITA-Sahel Hub R4D Director Tahirou Abdoulaye, spoke about the Institute’s research activities in the Sahel region.