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, prepared to welcome investments,” he said while adding that ongoing reforms, starting with the removal of fuel subsidy and streamlining of the exchange rate, would be sustained for a more competitive economy that attracts Foreign Direct Investment (FDI).
He urged investors to seize opportunities 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 blessed with human and material resources,’’ President Tinubu told the delegation, who had earlier listed areas of intervention to buoy the economy, like infrastructure, health, energy, and agriculture.
The president of AfreximBank praised President Tinubu for taking the bold step of eliminating the fuel subsidy and unifying the exchange rate, assuring the Nigerian leader of the financial and development institution’s full support for the ongoing reforms.
Dr. Oramah stated that the bank was already constructing the first African Specialist Hospital in Abuja and that Energy Bank was promising to inject more money into the economy to boost investor confidence.
President Tinubu told the EBRD that Nigeria’s economy was too large and powerful to ignore, adding, “Ignoring Nigeria will be a peril to the universe.”
After considering six potential investment markets, Renaud-Basso believes it would be a mistake for the development bank not to invest in Nigeria.