Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr. Wale Edun yesterday said that Nigeria has now become first consideration for foreign investment following the positive response to the reforms measures introduced by the Federal Government.
The Minister disclosed this while briefing the press on highlights of Nigeria’s participation in the just concluded annual meeting of the World Bank/International Monetary Fund, IMF, in Marrakesh, Morocco.
During the weeklong meetings, the World Bank and IMF commended the decision of the FG to remove fuel subsidy, unify exchange rates in the official forex market as well as the removal of foreign exchange restrictions on the 43 items.
As a result of these commendations, Edun said, Nigeria is now at the forefront of consideration for foreign investment among the international community.
He said: “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 narrative 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, 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.”
World Bank’s $1.5 bn loan in the offing
Edun also disclosed that the World Bank will soon release a $1.5 billion loan to Nigeria, which had been in the pipeline for a while adding that given the prevailing high interest rate regime across the world, the FG will focus on initiatives for financing on reasonable terms.
He said: “On the talks with the World Bank on $1.5billion 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.
Reforms painful, but things will get better
Edun said that notwithstanding the commendations for the reforms, the FG is aware of the painful impact of the reforms on Nigerians, assuring that given the various interventions rolled out in recent times, things should improve day by day.
He said: “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 its 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.”
Vanguard