Tinubu receives praise from the President of AfreximBank for bold actions on fuel subsidy removal and exchange rate unification.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, during his visit to Paris, expressed his commitment to sustaining ongoing reforms in Nigeria. These reforms aim to create a more competitive economy, attract Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), and provide genuine investment opportunities. Dele Alake, the Special Adviser to the President on Special Duties, Communication, and Strategy, conveyed this message in a statement from Abuja.
Tinubu, in meetings with President Benedict Oramah of African Export-Import Bank (Afrexim) and President Odile Renaud-Basso of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), reiterated Nigeria’s readiness for business and its openness to investments. Tinubu assured Afreximbank that the Federal Government would continue implementing policies that support investments, particularly in agriculture, leveraging Nigeria’s competitive advantage. He emphasized the need for bold reforms to revitalize the economy and expressed confidence in Nigeria’s potential, both in terms of its abundant human and material resources.
The Afreximbank delegation identified areas such as infrastructure, health, energy, and agriculture as key sectors for intervention in order to boost the economy. The President of AfreximBank commended Tinubu for his decisive actions in removing the fuel subsidy and unifying the exchange rate. Oramah pledged the full support of the institution for Nigeria’s ongoing reforms, citing projects like the construction of the first African Specialist Hospital in Abuja and the Energy Bank. He also expressed the bank’s commitment to injecting additional funds into the economy to build investor confidence.During the meeting with the EBRD, Tinubu emphasized that Nigeria had addressed major challenges by removing the fuel subsidy and eliminating multiple exchange rates. He reaffirmed the country’s determination to open up the economy for business and expressed Nigeria’s stakeholder status in the bank. Renaud-Basso acknowledged the significance of Nigeria’s economy and affirmed that it would be a mistake for the development bank to ignore investment opportunities in the country. The focus of EBRD’s investment would primarily be on the private sector, particularly Small and Medium-Scale Enterprises (SMEs).
