Victor Ezeja
AdminCoordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr. Wale Edun, has revealed that discussions at the annual meeting of the World Bank/International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Marrakesh, Morocco reveals that Nigeria has now become the first consideration for foreign investment.
The Finance Minister, who disclosed this yesterday while briefing newsmen on highlights of Nigeria’s participation in the just-concluded meeting, said the global interest in Nigeria comes as a positive response to the reform measures introduced by the administration of President Bola Tinubu.
In the course of the week-long meetings, the World Bank and IMF commended the decision of the Nigerian government to remove fuel subsidy, unify exchange rates in the official forex market as well as the removal of foreign exchange restrictions on 43 items. Edun pointed out that Nigeria is now at the forefront of consideration for foreign investment in the international community as a result of these commendations.
According to him, “There have been many conversations and as I said earlier, the narrative is that with the bold courageous steps that Nigeria has taken, the narrative is that we are now at the forefront, almost number one on people’s list when they want to look at where to invest.
“That is the narratives and I am sure if you have been around through this week, you would have picked it up. There is more to be done but Nigeria is definitely on the right path, that we have taken the right decision for the economy to recover and for it to attract foreign direct investment and as well I will add domestic investment in order to recover full economic growth, job creation and at the same time achieve inclusivity of women and young people.
“That is the opportunity we have had, not so much to stand in front of people and showcase but that they get the opportunity within this environment to understand even more clearly what has been done.”
Edun however stated that notwithstanding the commendations for the reforms, the government is aware of the painful impact on Nigerians, assuring that things should improve day by day in view of the various interventions rolled out in recent times.
His words: “These are painful reforms and Mr. President is a man of empathy who promised not to leave the vulnerable and poor behind. And as you know there is a set of interventions being rolled out which day by day should improve things.
“More food has been grown, fertilizers are being released, CNG transport is the order of the day, while the government pauses, conversion kits are on the way, there is take up of that initiative by the private sector.
“So day by day we are moving closer to affordable and even cleaner energy simply because the price of petroleum products has been put where it really stands rather than having cheap fuel which is below the market price and below it’s value. Now you are seeing the right value and that is making the move to cleaner and finer energy.
“I will also add, one of the benefits, when we talk about the benefits coming through some of the measures taken, the fact that there has been a 30 per cent reduction in smuggling of petroleum products across the border, I think is a major achievement of that all important step to remove fuel subsidy.”
The Minister of Finance further disclosed that the World Bank will soon release a long-awaited $1.5 billion loan to Nigeria, explaining that the Federal Government will focus on initiatives for financing on reasonable terms in view of the prevailing high interest rate regime across the world.
His words, “On the talks with the World Bank on $1.5 billion budget support, that is correct. The World Bank is the number one multilateral development bank helping developing countries or funding developing countries, projects and programmes, and sectors.
“ It has free money through either International Development Association (IDA). It is for the poorer countries and right now I think we qualify as one of the countries that can borrow in the normal window of World Bank funding but also some concessionary IDA funding and that means that effectively the interest rate will be zero.
“So, therefore, there is no stigma attached to qualifying for World Bank funding to help finance development. In this particular case, it has long been in the pipeline, and we are hoping that funding will come through soon. A lot of hard work is being done. There is a Federal Executive Council meeting on Monday, that should be able to discuss this, as well as other initiatives for financing on reasonable terms. We have talked about the high costs of money, the World Bank money is the cheapest”.
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