President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has stated that Nigeria is not only ready for business but also for investment.
On the sidelines of the Summit for a New Global Financing Pact, the president met with the President and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the African Export-Import Bank (Afrexim), Prof. Benedict Oramah, and the President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), Odile Renaud-Basso.
“We are ready for business, ready to welcome investments,” he said, adding that existing changes, such as the elimination of fuel subsidies and the straightening of the currency rate, would be maintained in order to create a more competitive economy that attracts Foreign Direct Investment (FDI).
He advised investors to seize their chances in Nigeria.
President Tinubu assured the delegation of AfreximBank executives led by Dr. Oramah in a statement issued by his spokesman, Dele Alake, that the federal government will continue to stimulate the economy with policies that support investments in areas of Nigeria’s competitive advantage, particularly agriculture.
“Nigeria is endowed with human and material resources,” President Tinubu told the team, having previously outlined areas of intervention to boost the economy such as infrastructure, health, energy, and agriculture.
The head of AfreximBank praised head Tinubu for taking the daring move of eliminating the fuel subsidy and unifying the currency rate, assuring the Nigerian leader of the financial and development institution’s complete support for the continuing changes.
Dr. Oramah stated that the bank was already constructing the first African Specialist Hospital in Abuja and that Energy Bank was promising to put additional money into the economy to boost investor confidence.
President Tinubu told the EBRD that Nigeria’s economy was too vast and powerful to ignore, adding, “Ignoring Nigeria will be a peril to the universe.”
After analyzing six prospective investment markets, Renaud-Basso believes it would be a mistake for the development bank not to engage in Nigeria.
