Nigeria’s Finance Minister: Nigeria in global market to stay

Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun, has signalled Nigeria’s readiness to take its place among the world’s economies, declaring that the country is in the global market to stay. The Minister made this known at the World Bank/ International Monetary Fund (IMF) meetings in Washington, as part of efforts aimed at rapidly changing Nigeria and Africa’s narrative in the international community.“Our governments have been improving since the advent of democracy, and so I think there is a sense that if the government put its word and guarantee behind a thing, we would stick to it,” she said. Speaking in the US capital, the minister asserted that times have changed while making the case for investors to think out of the West and turn to Africa,”she said.“We think that the time has come. Everyone is thinking out of the West. There is nothing left in the West; everybody has to now come to Africa, but we don’t want investors to come to Africa to sell us iPhones and many expensive suits. “We want to become productive, and so we want this investment to come into infrastructure that will enable us to compete and really enable Africans too stay in Africa.” The minister, who led Nigeria’s delegation to the annual meetings won plaudits for making a strong business case for Nigeria and the entire African continent. She garnered support from Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, who was represented by Bill Morneau, Canada’s Minister of Finance. Morneau disclosed that his country is also doubling its funding on infrastructure, emphasizing the need to close all infrastructural gaps across the world.Moderating the session was Stephanie Ruhle of American TV network NBC, who also praised Adeosun for helping to change Africa’s narrative around the world. The broadcaster said Adeosun, who was the only female on the panel, had impressed everyone at the World Bank Preston Auditorium event.