President Bola Tinubu on Thursday met with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) urging them to amplify investment plans in the nation’s Agricultural, infrastructure and research sectors as well as the development of the continent.
The President stated this at a meeting with a delegation of the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, led by its Managing Director, Mr. Makhtar Diop, noted that the IFC and the World Bank needed to view Africa in a different light.
According to President Tinubu, it is necessary for the expectations of the rest of the world on Africa to change by viewing the continent as a potential opportunity and not a danger to the rest of the free world, expressing the possibility tto stimulate growth and accelaratr inclusiveness
“You are at the helm now and in a position to change the perception. We are ready to change the narrative and work with you. Africa is open for business, regardless of whatever the perception may be.
“I am an African and proud to be and will maintain the strong position to collaborate with the rest of the world to see Africa as a destination for growth and prosperity,” the President told the IFC delegation led by the Senegal-born Managing Director”, he said.
President Tinubu acknowledged that Nigeria holds the second-largest IFC portfolio in Africa with an active investment portfolio of $2.1 billion as of April 2024.
He highlighted the importance of some critical infrastructure projects embarked upon by his administration, such as the 700km Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway and the Sokoto-Badagry Expressway
He expressed concern over issues of reticulation and irrigation that has impeded various attempts to create dams over the years, even as he notedr the living conditions in rural areas where crops are produced and allocation of fund to rural roads to ameliorate transportation lapses.
Speaking, Mr. Diop informed the President that during his working visit to Nigeria, the IFC had engaged in productive discussions with Nigerian partners to enhance agriculture, increase food production through irrigation farming, upgrade transport networks, and bolster regional integration.
Expressing IFC’s long-term commitment to growing agribusiness in Nigeria, he announced that IFC has signed a $23.3 million loan agreement with Johnvents Industries Limited, a leading agribusiness for economic development and agricultural transformation, to develop the cocoa sector.
Speaking to state house coreespondents after the meeting, Mr. Diop said the Corporation was ready to partner the Nigerian government on new investments in irrigation, road infrastructure, and logistics around the airport under a Public Private Partnership.
The IFC Managing Director assured that the corporation’s ifirst priority would be to undertake and improve the transportation of commodities within Nigeria and across other African continent.
He pledged IFC’s commitment to long-term investment in Nigeria, adding that its single largest investment in Africa is in Nigeria, where it has invested $1.2 billion in the fertilizer industry.
