President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, on Thursday, called on international development financiers to invest in agriculture, research, and infrastructure in Africa as a destination for growth and prosperity.
President Tinubu disclosed this during 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, where he urged global financiers to consider more strategic investments in agriculture, infrastructure, research, and development on the continent.
“The IFC and the World Bank need to see Africa differently. I am glad an African is at the helm of affairs at IFC and, as an African, understands that the potential for growth, peace, stability, and prosperity is here.
“The world has to see us as a continent that can help the rest of the world, and not perceive us as backwards, unstable, and with leadership problems,” he said.
The expectations, he added, of the rest of the world on Africa have to change by looking at Africa as a potential opportunity and not as a danger to the rest of the free world.
“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.
Acknowledging that Nigeria holds the second largest IFC portfolio in Africa with an active investment portfolio of $2.1bn as of April 2024, President Tinubu 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.
“We have made various attempts in the past to create dams, but issues with reticulation and irrigation remain. When we consider the living conditions in rural areas where crops are produced, how much funding is allocated for rural roads to expedite transportation to consumer centres?
“The goal of the coastal road and the Sokoto-Badagry Highway is to address this,” the President said.
In his own remarks, 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.
