Director-General of the World Trade Organisation, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has praised the economic reforms implemented by President Bola Tinubu, highlighting their role in stabilising Nigeria’s economy since he assumed office over two years ago.
Speaking to journalists following a closed-door meeting with the President on Thursday, the WTO chief described the reforms as necessary and timely, noting that economic improvement can only follow stability.
She also stressed the need for broader efforts to support the reforms’ long-term impact.
“We think that the president and his team, and we just exchanged with him, have worked hard to stabilize 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,” Okonjo-Iweala stated.
Turning attention to next steps, she called for deliberate strategies to spur economic growth and protect vulnerable Nigerians from the adverse effects of the reforms. “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,” she said.
“How do we build social safety net to help Nigerians cushion the hardship they are feeling, and 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.”
On the purpose of her visit, the WTO Director-General revealed that she came to brief the president on the launch of a new initiative focused on women entrepreneurs. “We came to brief him about something very joyful that we did today. With the help of the First Lady, we launched a women exporters fund for the digital economy,” she said.
The fund, jointly administered by the WTO and the International Trade Centre (ITC) in Geneva, is designed to support female entrepreneurs and strengthen their capacity to contribute to Nigeria’s economy. “This is a fund that is jointly managed by the WTO, the World Trade Organisation, and the ITC, the International Trade Centre in Geneva, and the idea is 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, is part of thinking of what is a social safety net? How can we help support Nigerian women to contribute more to the economy and to themselves?” she explained.
Earlier in the day, Okonjo-Iweala joined First Lady Senator Oluremi Tinubu to unveil the Women Exporters Fund for the digital economy. Nigeria is one of four countries selected globally for the pilot scheme, coordinated locally by the Ministry of Trade and Investment and the Nigerian Export Promotion Council.
Out of over 67,000 applicants, 146 Nigerian women were selected to benefit from the initiative. Sixteen of them, under the ‘booster track’ for established enterprises, will receive 18 months of technical and business support. An additional 100 women will receive $5,000 grants and a year-long support programme to launch or expand their businesses.
“This is just the beginning,” Okonjo-Iweala said, adding that the initiative aims to equip more Nigerian women to overcome economic challenges, generate employment, and make a greater impact on national development.
