Nigeria’s Economic Progress On Course – Edun

• As FG courts World Bank, IMF, global investors

BY COBHAM NSA – Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr Wale Edun, says Nigeria is a super investment haven, assuring international financial institutions and global investors that the Nigerian economy is moving on a positive trajectory for sustainable growth.

Accordingly, he has urged investors, including the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), to take advantage of the productive reform initiatives of the President Bola Tinubu-led administration to enjoy good returns on their investments.

The Minister, who restated the government’s commitment to attract foreign investment and improve the lives of Nigerians, said the agriculture sector, with the nation’s massive arable land, large market, and growing youth population present potent incentives that investors could tap into readily.

Also listing oil and gas, infrastructure, especially roads, rails, housing, and the services sectors as attractive investment areas, Edun, said the current administration’s policies are strategically designed to tow Nigerians out of multi-dimensional poverty to prosperity, boost productivity, tackle unemployment and guarantee ease of doing business for both domestic investors, Nigerians in the Diaspora and internal investors across all sectors.

A statement by the Director of Press in the Ministry, Alhaji Mohammed Manga, quoted the Finance Minister as highlighting that the “bold, courageous and strategic reforms” being implemented by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu-led administration are meant for the overall good and well-being of all Nigerians.

Mr Edun, who spoke at the ongoing Spring Meetings of the World Bank and the IMF in Washington DC, further explained that the current reforms are meant to achieve the dual objectives of stabilizing the national economy to attract foreign investment and engendering job creation and poverty reduction in line with the ‘Renewed Hope Agenda’ of Mr President.

While expressing confidence about the growth direction of the Nigerian economy, the Minister said government policies are successfully “slowing down food inflation” as evidence of positive progress.

The statement, which described the Minister’s visit to Washington D.C. as part of a larger effort to showcase the economic advancements achieved under the current administration, said he, alongside the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Finance, Mrs. Lydia Shehu Jafiya; the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Olayemi Cardoso, and other key officials, also seek to collaborate with international institutions like the World Bank and the IMF.

Further highlighting the positive economic indicators, including a stabilizing exchange rate and signs of declining food inflation, the Minister acknowledged that oil revenues haven’t reached their full potential and expressed confidence in Nigeria’s resilience and ability to achieve set economic goals.