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Nigeria is poised to attract nearly $20 billion in foreign direct investment this year alone, President Bola Tinubu told the Africa CEO Forum in Kigali on Thursday, crediting his administration’s push to clear regulatory hurdles and stabilise the economy.
“Removing all the bottlenecks gives you the necessary incentives for direct foreign investment into the country,” Tinubu said during a presidential panel moderated by British journalist Zeinab Badawi.
“This year alone, I can beat my chest that Nigeria is attracting close to $20 billion in foreign direct investments.”
The president declared that the days of shipping unprocessed minerals out of Nigeria are over.
“No one can take metal out of Nigeria without adding value,” he said. “You can excavate the dust, all the minerals, and go, but no. I can produce batteries for cars with my minerals.”
Badawi noted that the Dangote refinery produces 650,000 barrels per day and meets about 70 percent of Nigeria’s fuel needs. Tinubu said the project succeeded because the government backed a private risk-taker.
“Nigeria could not survive with over 200 million people in peace without a refinery. A risk-taker like Dangote must be encouraged by the government,” he said.
“What I did was support him, give him free trade, his own licence, support him in sourcing the crude that is necessary. Today he is a net exporter of petroleum motor spirit, aviation fuel, and other commodities.”
The president explained his solution to currency challenges in domestic crude supply.
“My formula is: what is the denominated currency in Nigeria? That is the naira. I have crude that you expect me to export, so I give you, as my local refinery, crude in naira. No letter of credit, no bank scrambling, no exchange rate instability.”
Tinubu took aim at Western credit rating agencies, arguing they consistently underestimate African economies.
“I wrote an article in the Financial Times. Have the rating agencies visited Rwanda and seen the potential, the tourism, the 9.4 per cent growth last year?” he asked.
“Investment is very cowardly, unless you are transparent, accountable and forthright. That is why we must recapitalise all our financial institutions.”
On tax reform, Tinubu pointed to Lagos, which he said is now Africa’s fifth-largest economy, as a model being replicated nationwide.
“Tax reform must be written in English, understandable and not Japanese in English, a standard that everyone is able to pay,” he said.
“Not for avoidance, but for the genuine commitment of citizenship. Write it simple but not stupid. I have reformed that in Nigeria. You can pay your taxes from your telephone. You can access and evaluate yourself so easily from your phone.”
The president said Nigeria has created 6,000 mechanised farming zones and a government buy-back programme for farmers. He cited the 1,000-kilometre Sokoto-Badagry concrete highway as evidence of infrastructure investment tied to agricultural logistics.
“Gone are the days when agriculture is no longer sexy,” he said.
He also disclosed that Nigeria has laid more than 90,000 kilometres of fibre optic cable across the country.
“That is the only way we can bring lessons to children and communicate with farmers and ordinary traders. Africa must be able to put funding together to surpass the level of primitive telecommunication, bring in AI, e-commerce; we need to leapfrog.”
“The African Continental Free Trade Area should not be left on the drawing board; it should be activated properly, with regional collaboration and effective utilisation of our resources, not working in silos but in collaboration with one another,” Tinubu said.
“I believe in Africa first, because I started with Nigeria first.”
The Africa CEO Forum, the continent’s largest gathering of business leaders and heads of state, continues in Kigali through Friday.
