The International Finance Corporation (IFC) has announced plans to send an investment mission to Nigeria to explore investment opportunities in key sectors following a meeting with President Bola Tinubu in Kigali, Rwanda.
The IFC Managing Director, Makhtar Diop, disclosed this on Thursday during a meeting with Tinubu on the sidelines of the Africa CEO Forum.
According to presidential spokesman, Bayo Onanuga, the IFC delegation included Regional Vice President for Africa, Ethiopis Tafara, and Director for Central Africa and Nigeria, Dahlia Khalifa.
Diop said the mission would explore investment structures capable of unlocking private capital for Nigeria’s livestock, energy and housing sectors.
He also praised Nigeria’s removal of fuel subsidy and the harmonisation of the foreign exchange market.
“President Tinubu, you have been so courageous in removing the subsidy. When you did it, I said to myself, President Tinubu took the bull by the horns,” Diop said.
In his remarks, President Tinubu reiterated Nigeria’s readiness to attract and deploy private capital for institutional and infrastructure development.
The president said African pension funds should evolve into strategic development finance instruments capable of supporting major infrastructure and productive-sector investments.
Tinubu also called on African leaders and the private sector to focus on mobilising institutional capital within the continent to finance infrastructure, energy transition and long-term economic transformation.
“If you want Africa to leapfrog, then energy transmission and decentralisation are important. The funding gap is there, and we must work together,” Tinubu said.
The meeting also examined mechanisms for infrastructure financing through institutional investors, local currency financing arrangements and swap structures.
Diop said currency facilities and banking partnerships involving Nigerian financial institutions, including Access Bank, could support interstate financial integration, ease trade and strengthen business activities across Africa.
He added that African countries faced similar development challenges and should work collectively to drive an “African Renaissance” anchored on strong institutions and regional economic champions.
