Richard Montgomery, the British high commissioner to
Nigeria, says Africa’s most populous nation has morphed into a more investible
destination.
He attributed the progress to President Bola Tinubu’s “big
and bold” economic reforms.
Speaking during a press briefing in Abuja on Wednesday,
Montgomery said the UK sees growing opportunities in Nigeria for a combination
of reasons.
“I’ve been very public previously about commending the big
and bold economic reforms being taken by His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed
Tinubu,” he said.
“We all know about the abolition of the fuel subsidy, we all
know about the unification of the exchange rate system, and my headline this
morning is that these economic reforms are paying off, and these economic
reforms are now making Nigeria more investible.
“I realise that some of these reforms for ordinary people
are painful.
“Inflation is still high, it’s in the 20 percent territory,
the mid-20s. And it’s going to take time to bring that rate down.
“But we can see very good prospects for that rate coming
down in the coming months and years.”
HIGH COMMISSION AGREES WITH WORLD BANK’S NDU
He said the commission agrees with the World Bank’s May 2025
Nigeria Development Update (NDU), whose main thrust is that the naira is now more
stable, adding that a predictable economic environment buoys investments.
“Foreign exchange reserves are up, significantly up, so that
makes Nigeria less risky. There’s been a very big increase in government
revenue collection, not by raising tax banks, but by tax administration and
management,” Montgomery added.
“It’s almost a 90 percent increase in the amount of
resources we’ve collected, partly through administrative management and making
sure that revenues from various MDAs reach the treasury, and that increase in
revenue means reductions in fiscal deficit.
“It means that the combination of increased revenue and the
abolition of the fuel subsidy have doubled federal allocations to the states,
enabling more investments in infrastructure as well as public services.
“Most importantly, we’re seeing a growth rate in Nigeria
too, so between 2015 and 2019, the growth rate in Nigeria was an average of 2
percent.
“It’s now, in the last 12 months, at least about 3.5
percent. But most positively, in the last quarter for which we have data, it’s
up to 4.6 percent. So there’s a real uptick in growth.”
The British envoy added that businesses are looking to
expand and optimism is growing, as evidenced by a significant rise in the
purchasing manager’s index (PMI).
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