President Bola Tinubu has called on international development financiers to see Africa as a destination for growth and prosperity.
He said this at a meeting in the presidential villa with a delegation of the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, led by its Managing Director, Mr. Makhtar Diop.
President Tinubu urged global financiers to consider more strategic investments in agriculture, infrastructure, research, and development on the continent.
President Tinubu told the visiting delegation that Nigeria holds the second-largest IFC portfolio in Africa with an active investment portfolio of $2.1 billion as of April 2024.
He 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.
The Managing Director of the International Finance Corporation 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.
Mr. Diop said the Corporation is ready to partner the Nigerian government on new investments in irrigation, road infrastructure, and logistics around the airport under a Public Private Partnership.
