Director-General of the World Trade Organisation
(WTO), Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has commended President Bola Tinubu for
stabilising Nigeria’s economy, describing it as a necessary foundation for
future growth.
Speaking after a courtesy visit to the Presidential
Villa on Thursday, the former Finance Minister said, “You cannot really improve
an economy unless it’s stable. The president and his team have worked hard to
stabilise the economy, and he has to be given credit for that. The reforms are
in the right direction. What is needed next is growth.”
She emphasised the need to create social safety nets
to cushion the hardship many Nigerians face due to ongoing reforms, as well as
policies to spur job creation and put more money in people’s pockets.
On women’s economic empowerment, Okonjo-Iweala
announced that 146 Nigerian women entrepreneurs have been selected for
the Women Exporters Fund for the Digital Economy, jointly managed by the
WTO and the International Trade Centre. The beneficiaries were chosen from
67,000 applicants nationwide.
Sixteen of them, under the “booster track,” will
receive technical and business support for 18 months to expand their existing
businesses. Another 100 will each receive $5,000 in direct funding and
12 months of business support to scale up or strengthen their ventures.
Okonjo-Iweala, who served twice as Nigeria’s Finance
Minister, is known for leading negotiations with the Paris Club that wiped out
$30 billion of Nigeria’s debt during President Olusegun Obasanjo’s
administration. She became WTO DG in 2021.
According to the National Bureau of Statistics,
Nigeria’s GDP grew by 3.13% year-on-year in Q1 2025, up from 2.27% in Q1
2024, driven by gains in the services and industry sectors.
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