- As FG targets 10–12% annual growth
BY COBHAM NSA – Despite official figures indicating that Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) currently hovers around 375 billion dollars, the solid foundation for achieving President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s $1trillion economy agenda by 2030 is fully on course, Minister of State for Finance, Dr. Doris Uzoka-Anite, has declared.
This is as she also explained that the Federal Government’s decision to restructure how the national budget works is part of measures that target a sustained annual economic growth of between 10 and 12 per cent over the next decade to achieve its set goal.
She said though the goal is not an easy one, it is necessary for Nigeria’s long-term prosperity, adding:“That is an ambitious target, and this administration is not shy about saying so. Ambitious targets are what move nations”.
Also insisting that the one trillion dollar economy plan is not just political talk but a clear economic destination backed by measurable steps, Dr Uzoka-Anite said, “Actualizing President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s $1 Trillion Economy Agenda is not a slogan. It is a specific, measurable destination. Nigeria’s GDP currently sits at approximately $375 billion.”
The Minister, represented by Uloma Amadi, an Assistant Director of Information in the Ministry, however said achieving the one trillion dollar economy will require more than government action alone, stressing that the current administration’s decision in 2023 to remove the fuel subsidy and unify the exchange rate are currently being vindicated by the data.
According to her, “President Tinubu’s $1 trillion economy agenda will not be built through government action alone. It will be built through the confidence of investors who trust our institutions, the productivity of entrepreneurs who can access capital and markets, the skills of young Nigerians who find opportunity rather than frustration, and the informed engagement of citizens who understand what their country is trying to do and why.”
She also announced that Nigeria has submitted its ECOWAS Tariff Offer to the AfCFTA Secretariat, creating zero duties on 90 per cent of goods traded within Africa, adding this move will open Nigeria to a continental market of 1.4 billion people with a combined GDP of over three trillion dollars.
Hear her, “A binding commitment to a market of 1.4 billion people with a combined GDP of over $3 trillion is not a gesture. It is a strategic repositioning. When global trade routes become contested, as they are today, regional corridors become the most reliable alternatives. Nigeria is deliberately placing itself at the center of that alternative”.
She said: “In January 2026, S&P Global Ratings revised Nigeria’s outlook to positive, affirming our B-/B credit ratings and citing measurable improvements across our external, fiscal, monetary, and economic trajectory. That kind of third-party validation is not given lightly”.
On government’s reforms, especially in restructuring how the budget works, Dr. Uzoka-Anite, said: “For the first time, we are treating investment expenditure as a distinct pillar of public finance, separate from recurrent spending. This matters because it disciplines government to ask a different question: not just how much are we spending, but what are we building with what we spend”.
Further explaining that while the first wave of reforms restored market integrity, the Minister said the second wave, which is now underway, has been designed to unlock productive capacity in the overall interest of growing the nation’s economy
Also disclosing that in collaboration with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the Ministry of Finance has co-authored the Disinflation and Growth Acceleration Strategy, which we call DGAS, Dr. Uzoka-Anite said, “This is not a policy document that sits on a shelf. It is a nine-pillar implementation framework designed to deliver non-inflationary growth above 7 percent by 2027″.
The Minister, who also addressed issues on the global front, pointed out that Nigeria exiting the FATF grey list last year, was in recognition of measures taken to strengthen and upgrade its anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing frameworks to global standards.
“This matters because it directly reduces the compliance costs foreign investors face when engaging with Nigerian institutions. Capital flows more freely to countries that international regulators trust,” she added.
In commending FICAN for a job well done in reporting issues within the nation’s economy, Dr Uzoka-Anite said the media remain a critical stakeholder in continually building public confidence through effective communication of government policies to the citizens.
Dr Dr. Uzoka-Anite said the reforms being implemented by government are technically sound, but not self-explanatory, and urged FICAN to help build the public understanding of the ongoing reforms.
She said: “When you report accurately on inflation trends, on exchange rate dynamics, on what consumer credit access actually means for a family in Ado-Ekiti, Kano or Owerri, you are doing something that no government press release can replicate. You are building the public understanding on which policy sustainability depends.
“I therefore want to extend an open invitation to the leadership of FICAN and to your members: come to the Ministry. Ask the hard questions. Hold us accountable to the numbers we have put in the public domain. Rigorous financial journalism is not a threat to good governance; it is one of the conditions for it,”
