President Bola Tinubu has met with the Managing Director of the International Finance Corporation (IFC), Makhtar Diop, to discuss ways of attracting private capital into Nigeria’s energy, housing, and livestock sectors.
The meeting was held on Thursday on the sidelines of the 13th Africa CEO Summit in Kigali, Rwanda.
In a statement signed by the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, Diop said the IFC would immediately send a mission to Nigeria to explore scalable investment structures for the sectors.
Diop led an IFC delegation that included Ethiopis Tafara, Regional Vice President for Africa, and Dahlia Khalifa, Director for Central Africa and Nigeria.
According to the statement, the IFC is interested in working with Nigeria to develop financing models that could unlock private capital and support investment in energy, housing, and livestock production.
Diop commended Tinubu for what he described as bold economic reforms, especially the removal of fuel subsidy and the harmonisation of Nigeria’s exchange rate.
“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,” he said.
He added that Nigeria’s reform process had sent a strong signal to international investors about the government’s commitment to difficult but necessary economic decisions.
Tinubu, during the meeting, reaffirmed Nigeria’s openness to private capital as a tool for institutional development and long-term economic transformation.
The President said African pension funds must evolve into strategic development finance instruments capable of supporting major infrastructure and productive-sector investments.
He also urged African leaders and the private sector to mobilise African institutional capital to finance infrastructure, energy transition, and economic transformation across the continent.
According to him, such efforts are important to Africa’s broader development agenda and its push to overcome socio-economic challenges.
Tinubu further said Africa must focus on decentralising energy systems and strengthening transmission infrastructure to attract private investment.
“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 discussed the use of institutional investors, local currency financing structures, and swap arrangements to deepen infrastructure funding.
Diop said local currency facilities and banking partnerships, including arrangements involving Nigerian financial institutions such as Access Bank, could strengthen regional financial integration, ease trade, and support business across the continent.
He said African leaders face common development challenges and must collectively pursue what he called an “African Renaissance” built around strong institutions and regional economic champions.
