Tinubu courts global investors as Nigeria deepens reforms

President Bola Tinubu is looking to lure in scarce global capital as he met with investors Tuesday, stressing his commitment to the nation’s ongoing reforms.

Tinubu, who left Nigeria on Sunday for a three-nation trip, said the economic reform program of his administration includes measures to remove economic distortions and stabilise macroeconomic indicators, laying the foundation for sustained inclusive growth.

“Subsidy that was a burden to the entire country was removed, and ever since we have achieved foreign exchange stability,” the president told global investors in France.

He said his government is committed to deepening reforms, enhancing transparency across the oil value chain, and implementing a multi-pronged security strategy, including police decentralisation and disrupting terrorist financing.

Nigeria embarked on some rather radical market reforms nearly three years ago to reset an economy that was on the brink of collapse.

The policies, including removal of fuel subsidies and relaxing currency controls, spiked inflationary pressures and triggered the worst cost-of-living crisis in a generation at its earliest stage.

But the economy appears to be recovering from the shocks as the naira has become more stable since the removal of artificial pegging while prices have slowed from over 30 percent to about 15 percent as of March 2026.

The Iranian war, which has crossed two months, is however posing a threat to an economy that had just suffered a major overhaul as fuel prices have soared more than 50 percent, triggering fresh calls for the return of subsidies.

Taiwo Oyedele, minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, who spoke at the meeting, however said the country is committed not to go back to the subsidy regime era and price controls.

“We will not bring back subsidies because they create distortions in the economy, and we will not introduce price controls because we believe in markets while ensuring that regulation is responsible so that no supplier, trader, or manufacturer takes advantage of the Nigerian people,” the minister said.

He highlighted Nigeria’s strong GDP growth in dollar terms in 2025, noting that the country recorded 11.2 percent growth in dollar terms last year, a record that reinforced the country’s ambition to achieve a $1 trillion economy.

Oyedele emphasised the government’s near-term priorities of translating reforms into results for the Nigerian people. He also pledged to publish quarterly financial data. Also at the meeting was Patience Oniha, the director general of the Debt Management Office, who assured investors of the government’s responsible approach to debt financing and its focus on sustainable debt management. The investors were from Citibank and France’s Amundi, led by Valerie Baudson. There were also BlueCrest, the Britain- and South Africa-based Ninety One, Kirkoswald Capital, Principal Finisterre, US groups Prudential Global Investment Management (PGIM) and Mesarete Capital. Some of the investors who spoke at the meeting commended the government’s transformative reforms and expressed optimism about the Nigerian economy. One of the investors asked President Tinubu about his post-2027 agenda. He promised to strengthen fiscal discipline and transparency, and to deliver policy consistency.