Yesterday in Paris, France, President Bola Tinubu urged investors to take advantage of opportunities in Nigeria by stating that ongoing reforms, beginning with the elimination of fuel subsidies and streamlining of the exchange rate, will be sustained for a more competitive economy that attracts Foreign Direct Investment (FDI).
In separate meetings on the sidelines of the summit for the New Global Financing Pact, he welcomed Prof. Benedict Oramah, President and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the African Export-Import Bank (Afrexim), and Odile Renaud-Basso, President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).
The President gave the group of AfreximBank executives the reassurance that the Federal Government will keep the economy growing by promoting investments in sectors where Nigeria has a competitive edge, notably in agriculture.
He said, “We need changes for national survival.” Noting that repositioning the economy will require bravery and courage, he called for increased cooperation to strengthen the economy.
“We must promote recovery in order to ensure the progress and prosperity of our people, which is imminent. Nigeria is prepared for international trade, and our transformation is complete.
The head of AfreximBank praised President Tinubu for taking the courageous measures to abolish the gasoline subsidy and unify the currency rate, assuring the Nigerian leader of the institution’s complete support for the current changes.
According to Oramah, the bank is already constructing the first African Specialist Hospital in Abuja, and Energy Bank has committed to boosting the economy’s financial stability by injecting more funds.
President Tinubu stated during the meeting with the EBRD that “reforms are challenging, but we have removed the biggest elephant from the room with the abolition of fuel subsidies, and various exchange rates are equally gone. We are committed to facilitating commercial activity in the economy. Think of us as participants in the bank
After examining six prospective investment targets, Renaud-Basso concluded that the development bank would be making a mistake if it chose not to fund projects in Nigeria. She clarified that the private sector, particularly Small and Medium-scale Enterprises (SMEs), will be the main emphasis.
President Tinubu said Nigeria and other African nations are committed to addressing the intertwined issues of climate change, poverty, and promoting sustainable development. President Tinubu joined other world leaders and heads of international organizations in Palais Brongniart in Paris for the two-day summit aimed at finding better ways to combat poverty and climate change by reshaping the global financial system.
Participants in the panel discussion, “Ensuring more reliable, comparable information and data,” included David Craig, Co-Chair of the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD), Mark Carney, Co-Chair of the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ), Mary Schapiro, Vice-Chair of Global Public Policy at Bloomberg, Sabine Mauderer, Vice-Chair of the Network for Greening the Financial System, and Catherine Mckenna, Special Envoy for the United Nations.
“We think that Africa has more urgent social problems,” Tinubu stated. It has been argued that social and environmental challenges should both receive more attention from international leaders. I must congratulate President Emmanuel Macron for bringing up the subject of poverty. This conference is focused on diversity, people, and the environment.
“The serious financial and economic catastrophe that the African nations fell into following COVID-19 is over. There are economic problems, and we are all aware that using public resources will no longer be enough to address them. In order to monitor private capital and for us to track the capital, as well as to compete with other nations worldwide, it is necessary for us to track private capital.
“African countries must immediately participate in the conversation; business as usual is no longer an option. Competition with the rest of the world is necessary. We applaud President Macron’s suggestion to create the Net-Zero Data Public Utility (NZDPU), as we believe it would be a valuable resource for the continent of Africa.
The French President welcomed the global leaders to Paris and announced that the summit’s main goal would be to create a new financial system that would increase funding and help poor nations in their efforts to transition to clean energy and reduce poverty while upholding each country’s sovereignty.
Macron pointed out that the key global issues have disproportionately affected African nations, leaving them with debt burdens that impede economic growth and development. He emphasized the need for justice and fairness in the creation of the new global financial architecture, with a particular focus on the most vulnerable, to the leaders of 50 nations, multilateral organizations, and the private sector.
He said, “We must acknowledge that no nation can successfully reduce poverty and safeguard the environment alone.
The French President emphasized that in order to achieve more equitable development, particularly in the areas of health, education, and food security, the private sector must be included in the new accord that tries to synchronize progress.
The new agreement must be “urgent” and “essential” to Africa, according to Mohammed Bazoum, President of the Niger Republic, and the framework must be “just” and “robust” in order to adequately represent the reality of developing nations as partners.
According to Bazoum, the problems of poverty and desertification have sparked instability in the majority of nations, undermining peace and stability in sub-regions and the continent as a whole.
“In Africa, we need support for infrastructure, health, food security, and education,” he declared. Antonio Guterres, the secretary-general of the United Nations (UN), reminded the crowd that the summit will require greater political will and mobilization for reform.
According to the UN scribe, many nations are still suffering as a result of COVID-19 and climate change, and the conflict in Ukraine has made matters worse.
According to Guterres, several African nations have trouble paying off their debts, with signs that future generations would be impacted. According to him, the new global financial agreement must address divisions and dissatisfactions and enable the sort of reform that promotes debt relief, the suspension of payments, the changing of business models, and increased commitment from development banks with guarantees.
At the meeting, which will present a New Global Financing Pact and its implementation mechanism, President Tinubu will take part today. The summit intends to build the framework for a new financial system that is appropriate for the shared problems of the twenty-first century, such as combating inequality and climate change and safeguarding biodiversity.
With the help of the New Global Financial Pact, nations will be able to take bold action to bridge the economic, technical, and environmental differences that threaten to splinter our global community and overhaul the financial system.
Additionally, it will open the door for new agreements to address over-indebtedness and let more nations to access the money they require to invest in sustainable development, better conserve environment, lower emissions, and safeguard populations from the ecological catastrophe where it is most needed.