Nigeria’s economy in right direction under Tinubu, says Okonjo-Iweala

• The former Minister of fie and says reforms initiated by the Tinubu administration are heading in the right direction

The Director-General of the World Trade Organisation, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, says President President Bola Tinubu is working to place Nigeria’s economy on a sound footing.

The former Minister of finance and says reforms initiated by the Tinubu’s administration are heading in the right direction and will engender the stabilisation of the Nigeria’s economy.

Okonjo-Iweala made this known while addressing State House correspondents after a courtesy visit to the President on Thursday.

She disclosed that her discussions with the President centered on the launch of a landmark initiative aimed at empowering Nigerian women in the digital export economy.

“We came to brief Mr. President about something very joyful that we did today with the help of the First Lady – the launch of the Women Exporters Fund for the Digital Economy. This fund, jointly managed by the WTO and the International Trade Centre, in Geneva, to help support the economy and support women, to be able to weather the storms of the economy and be able to create jobs for themselves, for others,” she said.

On the state of Nigeria’s economy, Okonjo-Iweala acknowledged that the administration’s initial reforms had delivered much-needed stability.

“We think that the President and his team have worked hard to stabilise the economy, and you cannot really improve an economy unless it’s stable. So he has to be given the credit for the stability of the economy. So the reforms have been in the right direction,” she said.

She noted that the combination of economic stability, targeted growth policies, and robust safety nets would be critical to job creation and poverty reduction.

“What is needed next is growth. We now need to grow the economy, and we need to put in social safety nets so that people who are feeling the pinch of the reforms can also have some support to be able to weather the hardship. So that’s the next step.

“How do we build a social safety net to help Nigerians cushion the hardship they are feeling? Then, how do we grow the economy so we can create more jobs and put more money in people’s pockets? These are issues that we discussed with Mr. President,” she stated