Nigeria safe for investment, says Edun

The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr Wale Edun, has assured investors that Nigeria is safe for investment.

Edun said this at the Nigeria Investment Forum at the ongoing World Bank/International Monetary Fund (IMF) meetings in Washington D.C. on Wednesday.

According to the minister, efforts are geared towards maintaining fiscal congruence.

That’s one of the reasons for the new team at the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), and their mandate is to increase production and save costs,” he said.

Edun said that the administration was intensifying efforts to diversify and stabilise the economy.

He said that optimisation of assets was another route to closing the gap in the budget.

“We need to ensure that we maintain fiscal congruence; the mandate of NNPCL is to increase production and save costs. We are also diversifying the economy.

“We are committed to stabilising the economy so that the private sector will find it attractive to invest.

“Optimisation of assets is another route to closing the gap in the budget; the government believes in the sanctity of contracts,” Edun said.

He said that the administration of President Bola Tinubu had implemented foundational reforms that were now yielding results, with the country’s economy expanding.

Our goal is not just to maintain this momentum but to accelerate it. We are targeting seven per cent annual growth, and we believe the policies we have implemented have laid the groundwork to achieve this,” Edun said.

He said that the macroeconomic stability was gradually returning as reflected in narrowing budget deficits, improved trade balance, and a stabilising exchange rate.

Edun said the government was now shifting its focus to targeted sectoral growth.

According to him, the government’s top list is agriculture as the entire value chain, with the goals of boosting food security and enhancing productivity.

“We aim to close the food supply gap, not by importing more, but by enabling domestic producers to scale up and innovate,” he said.

According to the minister, about 90,000 km of fibre optic cable to enhance digital connectivity has been rolled out. It is important for empowering Nigeria’s youth and tech entrepreneurs.

Edun said that an additional 4,000km of roads have been tendered for private sector participation, with the first 1,000km already signed off for delivery.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Yemi Cardoso, said that the difficult reforms put in place have begun to yield fruit, and the country has been able to stabilise the macroeconomy.

He said that the country was not relenting on its course in spite of its period of crisis in the past 18 months.

Cardoso said that the efforts were all geared towards building confidence and trust.

The difficult reforms undertaken have begun to bear fruit. We have been able to stabilise the microeconomy. Fitch has upgraded us more recently; no doubt, we are in a period of heightened uncertainty.

“We have, for the past 18 months, been in a period of crisis, and our response to that period is to roll up our sleeves and ensure we build a stronger economy with respect to resilience and capacity for people and institutions.

“This is all about building confidence and trust and moving in a direction of more confidence and hope; if we continue in this direction, we will achieve our set goals,” he said. (NAN)