President Bola Tinubu has welcomed an investment of $520m in specialised agro-processing zones by the African Development Bank.
He praised the President of the multilateral institution, Dr. Akinwunmi Adesina, for further opening up the economy for investments that provide job opportunities and poverty reduction.
In a statement signed on Saturday by the President’s Special Adviser on Special Duties, Communication, and Strategy, Dele Alake, Tinubu said this when he received Dr. Adesina after the two-day summit on A New Global Financing Pact in Paris.
The statement is titled ‘President Tinubu applauds AfDB’s $520m investment in agro-industries.’
Tinubu said the agro-industrial project strengthens an area of Nigeria’s competitive advantage as he listed other areas of priority that require Foreign Direct Investment.
He thanked the AfDB President for his vision of setting up a Youth Entrepreneurship Bank in Nigeria that will provide credit, skills, and other support for young Nigerians.
However, he urged the Bank to inject funds into projects that target women and youth empowerment.
President Tinubu assured Dr. Adesina that the Federal Government would provide all the necessary assistance to ensure the sustenance of the projects, adding that electricity remained a priority area that needed urgent attention.
In his remarks, the AfDB helmsman thanked the Nigerian leader for the bold initiatives that had repositioned the Nigerian economy in three weeks and stimulated the appetite of investors from different parts of the world; removal of fuel subsidy and harmonisation of exchange rates.
“I commend the President’s foresight, boldness, and determination for macroeconomic policy direction by removing the fuel subsidy,’’ he said. Adding that “No bird can fly with its wings tied behind. All those steps are signals investors like,’’ Adesina said.
Dr. Adesina said the bank would support the economic policies of the new administration in Nigeria, which had placed the people first in development targets.
In another meeting, President Tinubu received executives of Airbus/ATR and assured them that the aviation sector would be “streamlined for efficiency’’, especially in the maintenance of aircraft and training.
Senior Vice President of Airbus/ATR, Public Affairs, Laurent Domergue, assured Tinubu that the company was prepared to invest in the aviation sector, particularly in supplying planes to Nigeria.