The Minister of Finance, Budget & National Planning, Mrs. Zainab Shamsuna Ahmed and a delegation from Nigeria attended the IMF-World Bank Annual Meetings that held from October 11th to 17th, 2021.
At the meetings, the Minister reiterated Nigeria’s commitment towards increasing revenue generation while ensuring Sustainable Deficit and Debt Levels.
She restated that Nigeria does not have a debt problem as all countries borrow to meet growing needs for building economies and the Strategic Revenue Growth Initiative (#SRGI) was launched in Nigeria to widen the revenue base in the medium term.
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On arrival in the US, the Minister participated in the hybrid Eurobond global investors meeting and roadshow organized by the Nigeria Debt Management Office held in New York. International investors showed interest in engaging the government and are optimistic about Nigeria’s credit status.
The investors presentation by the minister states that “Nigeria has demonstrated deep resilience amid the COVID-19 pandemic and commitment to sound policy & improving governance, positioning the continent’s largest economy and most populous nation at the forefront of the post-pandemic recovery with key structural reforms rolled out that include steps towards cost-reflective tariffs in the power sector, and the recently enacted Petroleum Industry Act”.
The minister said that “Nigeria has a broad and diversified economy across sectors contributing to macroeconomic resilience, with oil & gas contributing only 8.34% to real GDP in 1H 2021.”
She noted that “Post Covid-19 recovery has been aided by the pick up in non-oil activity in information & communications, mining and quarrying, accommodation and food services, transportation and storage, education and trade.
“Nigeria continues to diversify and grow the non-oil-and-gas sectors of the economy through continued economic reform policies under the Buhari administration.”
At the IMF-World Bank meetings, topics of discussion included Nigeria’s Economic Recovery and Reform Agenda, Sub-Saharan Africa Regional Economic Outlook, Financing African Economies, Gender Responsive Policy Action, Investments in Nigeria, Financing for Green Resilient and Inclusive Development (GRID), Economic Recovery Post Pandemic, Vaccine Rollouts, the Lake-Chad Region amongst others. Mrs. Ahmed participated and presented at the Development Committee plenary and also featured on Bloomberg’s Balance of Power with Anchor David Westin.
On the sidelines, Mrs. Ahmed and the delegation which included the Permanent Secretary Finance, Mr. Aliyu Ahmed; DG Budget Office, Mr. Ben Akabueze; the Nigerian Deputy Ambassador; Director International Economic Relations Department of the Ministry and others, attended a bilateral meeting at the US Treasury with the Deputy Secretary, Wally Adeyemo.
The delegation also met with Managing Director, Axel Van Trotsenburg of the world Bank; with Mr. Armando Manuel, the Executive Director representing Angola, Nigeria & South Africa at the World Bank in attendance.
Meetings were also held with the Director IMF Africa Department, Abebe Selassie; the UK Minister for Africa, Hon. Ms. Vicky Ford MP; the VP and the Director and General Counsel of Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency(MIGA), Mr. Ethiopis Tafara and Ms. Aradhana Kumar-Capoor; and a bilateral meeting between South Africa and Nigeria held where issues of mutual interest and cooperation were discussed.
The annual meetings featured the Official World Bank Group Business Sessions, the Development Committee and the International Monetary & Financial Committee meetings. Other featured events included regional briefings, press conferences, and fora focused on international development, the global economy, and financial markets.
