UNITED NATIONS, June 13 (Xinhua) -- A high-level UN fact-finding mission to the Central Sahel wound up its Niger visit on Friday, and a UN spokesman announced a 9.5 million U.S. dollar investment in the country.
Farhan Haq, the deputy spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, said a delegation of UN regional directors, led by Under-Secretary-General Abdoulaye Mar Dieye, the UN's special coordinator for development in the Sahel, concluded the first leg of a high-level mission to the Central Sahel.
Haq said the mission was in Niger from June 9-13, and will visit Mali next week, with a subsequent visit to Burkina Faso planned.
He said the UN delegation, including Yacoub El-Hillo, the regional director for Africa at the UN Development Coordination Office, met with Nigerien Prime Minister Ali Lamine Zeine and held substantive meetings with senior officials.
"The UN Development Programme announced an investment of 9.5 million U.S. dollars to improve access to energy in Niger, aiming to strengthen the country's energy infrastructure to meet the growing demand for sustainable and reliable energy," Haq said. ■
