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The International Finance Corporation would immediately send a mission to Nigeria to explore scalable investment structures that could unlock private capital in the sector.
The company’s CEO, Diop Makhtar, announced this on Thursday in Kigali, Rwanda, during a meeting with Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu on the sidelines of the 13th Africa CEO Summit.
Makhtar led an IFC delegation that included Ethiopia’s Tafara, Regional Vice President for Africa, and Dahlia Khalifa, Director for Central Africa and Nigeria, IFC. Makhtar said the IFC is interested in discussing ways of collaborating with Nigeria in the energy, housing and livestock production sectors.
He commended President Tinubu for the bold reforms initiated by his administration, especially the elimination of fuel subsidy and harmonization of the national exchange rate.
He described Nigeria’s reform process as courageous and transformative, sending a strong signal to international investors about the country’s commitment to difficult but necessary reforms.
“President Tinubu, you were so courageous in removing the subsidy. When he did that, I said to myself, President Tinubu took the bull by the horns,” the CEO said.
During the meeting, President Tinubu reaffirmed Nigeria’s openness to the exploitation of private capital for institutional development.
He said it has become imperative for African pension funds to evolve into strategic development financial instruments capable of supporting major infrastructure and productive sector investments.
President Tinubu further said that African leaders, as well as the private sector, must focus on mobilizing African institutional capital to finance infrastructure, energy transition and long-term economic transformation across the continent.
This, he said, is crucial to the realization of the continental effort to increase development across the continent and relieve it of current socio-economic challenges.
He said the continent must also focus on decentralizing energy systems and transmission infrastructure to attract private sector investment, including strengthening regional interconnectivity and transmission lines as part of Africa’s long-term industrialization agenda.
“If Africa is to leap forward, then power transmission and decentralization are important. There is a financing gap and we need to work together,” President Tinubu said.
The meeting discussed mechanisms for using institutional investors, local currency financing structures and swap agreements to strengthen infrastructure financing.
Makhtar said local currency facilities and banking partnerships, including facilities involving Nigerian financial institutions such as Access Bank, could strengthen efforts towards interstate financial integration, facilitate trade and improve business across the continent.
He said African leaders face common development challenges and must collectively drive what he described as an “African Renaissance” built around strong African institutions and regional economic champions.
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