Nigeria Assures Foreign Investors of Conducive Business Environment
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has assured foreign investors that the government will continue to advance reforms and unlock opportunities for sustainable investment and growth.
CBN Governor Yemi Cardoso gave the assurance on Wednesday in Washington while addressing investors at the Nigeria Investors Forum held on the sidelines of IMF/World Bank annual meetings.
He said that the nation’s external reserves had risen to 43.4 billion dollar, the highest level in five years. Cardoso assured the investors that the government would continue to advance reforms and unlock opportunities for sustainable investment and growth.
“The CBN and the Ministry of Finance have been working hand in hand to ensure alignment, stability and clarity for investors.
“Nigeria’s focus remains clear, strengthening our fundamentals, advancing reforms and unlocking opportunities for sustainable investment and growth.
“We are encouraged by the progress made so far and remain confident that ongoing reforms are laying a stronger foundation for a more resilient economy,” he said.
CBN Deputy Governor on Economic Policy, Mohammed Abdullahi, said that the series of reforms introduced by the government had led to significant improvement in foreign exchange inflows.
Abdullahi said that monthly turnover in the forex market had risen by 56.4 per cent to 8.6 billion dollars in 2025, up from 5.5 billion dollars in 2024.
“Over the last two years, we have really focused a lot on improving FX inflow into the economy, and we have seen a significant jump.
” Average net flows between January 2023 and July have doubled.
“FX supply at the official window has significantly improved and has been driven by order-based quotation, a lot of reforms around remittances and all the other issues mentioned, ” he said .
These, he said, include the clearance of backlogs and outstanding obligations
“Capital flows, which, during the 2019 to 2020 period collapsed by over 75 per cent have significantly improved and have therefore strengthened our external position.
“We now have deeper and more functional financial markets, much more robust and transparent,’” Abdullahi said.
He said that the CBN stood as a net supplier by less than about one per cent of market turnover.
“We are actually a net buyer in the market.
“We have, over the last two years, been rebuilding external buffers to provide resilience to shocks.
” Our gross reserves are at a five-year high of 43.4 billion dollars as of October, enough to cover 11 months of imports.
” We have also deliberately improved the quality and quantum of our net FX reserves.
“Between 2024 and 2025, we have released almost 13 billion dollars back to local and international banks in a way that allows for organic growth of our reserves,” he said.
Sanyade Okoli, the Special Adviser to the President on Finance and Economy, also said that government was committed to achieving seven per cent economic growth between 2027 and 2028.
Okoli said that the growth would come through diversification and investment in infrastructure.
“Our target is seven per cent by 2027 to 2028.
” When the IMF increased its forecast a week later for 2025, we are forecasting four per cent growth, rising to around five per cent next year.
“That four per cent is already the highest, with Q2 showing 4.3 per cent growth.
” We know that we need to diversify the economy and we are seeing results.
” In Q2, 13 per cent of sectors grew above seven per cent.
“To achieve seven per cent GDP growth, you need enough sectors growing at or above that level.
” In Q1, nine sectors grew above seven per cent, in Q2, it was 13.
“Our dependence on oil for total exports has reduced to about 57.5 per cent in the first half of this year compared to last year.
“Oil now accounts for about four per cent of GDP, down from eight per cent in 2021, ”Okoli said.
He said that the economy was diversifying, adding that resilience is building.
“To unlock long-term growth, we must invest; the government alone cannot do it.
“We are pursuing partnerships with the private sector and development partners to crowd in capital.
“On roads, the highway development and management Initiative has identified over 10 routes for PPPs,” he said.
He further said that on power, Nigeria was partnering with the World Bank and AfDB to mobilise about 32 billion dollars to improve access to reliable electricity.
On digital infrastructure, he said fiber-optic coverage is ongoing to ensure connectivity for the youths
