Nigeria and Jamaica have signed an Agreement on Technical Assistance to expand bilateral cooperation and strengthen the impact of Nigeria’s Technical Aid Corps (TAC) Programme in Jamaica.
The agreement was signed on Friday, September 25, 2026, at the United Nations Headquarters in New York following a meeting between Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu, and Jamaica’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Senator Kamina Johnson Smith.
The agreement formed part of Odumegwu-Ojukwu’s bilateral engagements on the sidelines of the high-level meeting of the 81st Session of the United Nations General Assembly.
According to a statement by the minister’s Media Assistant, Dr. Magnus Eze, the two ministers discussed ways to deepen Nigeria-Jamaica relations and promote greater people-to-people exchanges before the signing ceremony.
Johnson Smith expressed Jamaica’s appreciation for the contribution of Nigeria’s Technical Aid Corps to the country’s development, particularly in health, education and local fabric artisanry.
She also expressed Jamaica’s interest in receiving additional Nigerian professionals, particularly nurses and teachers, through the programme in the future.
The Jamaican minister said the TAC Programme had made a significant impact on communities in Jamaica, extending beyond technical skills to cultural and creative exchanges between the two countries.
She cited the development of “JADIRE” — a combination of Jamaican designs and Nigeria’s traditional Adire tie-dye textile technique — as an example of the programme’s lasting impact.
The concept was developed by Jamaican artisans following training provided under Nigeria’s Technical Aid Corps Programme in 2018.
The two ministers also acknowledged the potential for further expanding Nigeria-Jamaica cooperation and agreed to explore additional areas of mutual interest through existing and other bilateral platforms.
The meeting culminated in the formal signing of the Technical Assistance Agreement, reaffirming the two countries’ commitment to strengthening their longstanding bilateral relations and expanding practical cooperation.
The agreement also provides a framework for building on the TAC Programme’s existing contribution to Jamaica while creating opportunities for further professional, technical and people-to-people exchanges between Nigeria and Jamaica.
