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Vice President Kashim Shettima, connected Friday, said Nigeria was strategically positioned to anchor a caller epoch of intra-African commercialized and investment, leveraging its marketplace size, innovation hubs and economical value to pb the continent’s adjacent signifier of growth.
Speaking connected behalf of the Vice President, his Deputy Chief of Staff, Alhaji Ibrahim Hassan Hadejia, delivered the connection astatine the High-Level Conference connected Intra-African Trade, convened by Woodhall Capital astatine the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
The conference, held up of concern roadshows successful London, Dubai and Abu Dhabi, brought unneurotic governors, investors, improvement concern institutions, members of the diplomatic corps and heads of cardinal ministries and agencies.
Shettima commended Woodhall Capital for what helium called an “audacious and patriotic initiative” to rise planetary backing for some sovereign and subnational partners, describing it arsenic a exemplary for translating imaginable into measurable opportunities.
“For excessively long, the communicative of African commercialized has been dictated by what we extract and export to the Global North,” the Vice President said. “Today, we indispensable pivot and activate the immense untapped vigor of intra-African trade. While commercialized wrong the EU and Asia stands astatine 65 and 60 percent respectively, Africa’s intra-continental commercialized remains beneath 17 percent. That indispensable change.”
He noted that the gyration would not beryllium driven by Abuja alone, but by subnational structures susceptible of presenting credible, de-risked and market-aligned projects to planetary investors.
“Governors indispensable instrumentality the pb successful driving this transformation. As a government, we recognise that to pull sustainable investment, we indispensable physique an situation anchored connected predictable policy, organization transparency and accountability,” helium added.
Reiterating the Tinubu administration’s betterment priorities, Shettima said authorities remains committed to stabilising the naira, rationalising subsidies, simplifying commercialized integration and improving the concern clime done the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC).
“Capital follows confidence, and assurance follows governance,” helium declared. “The superior is ready, the markets are ready, and the satellite is watching. This is Nigeria’s infinitesimal to redefine its spot successful Africa’s economical communicative — not arsenic a participant, but arsenic a leader.”
In his remarks, Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) and Kwara State governor, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, reaffirmed the committedness of authorities governments to make enabling environments for investors.
Represented by Zamfara State governor, Dauda Lawal, AbdulRazaq said subnationals remained the cardinal to unlocking Africa’s adjacent question of commercialized and concern growth.
He cited the NGF’s concern with Woodhall Capital and Afreximbank arsenic a large measurement toward linking state-level task pipelines with credible planetary financiers, noting that the upcoming capitalist roadshows would showcase viable state-led projects successful energy, agriculture, logistics, infrastructure and the originative economy.
“This gathering is not conscionable a prelude to our planetary mission,” helium said. “It is simply a declaration that Nigerian states are unfastened for business, already bankable and globally competitive.”
Afreximbank’s Acting Regional Chief Operating Officer and Head of Mission, Anglophone West Africa, Mr. Alain-Thierry Mbongue, who represented the bank’s President, Prof. Benedict Oramah, reaffirmed the institution’s committedness to supporting subnational governments crossed Africa to pull investments and deepen intra-African trade.
Mbongue described the forum arsenic “a pivotal juncture successful Nigeria’s concern narrative,” highlighting Afreximbank’s African Sub-Sovereign Government Network (AfSNET) arsenic a level enabling governors, mayors and determination leaders to speech cognition and entree tailored financing tools.
“Our doctrine is elemental — improvement indispensable beryllium decentralised,” helium said. “It indispensable statesman wherever needs are astir keenly felt, successful cities, provinces and regions, and radiate outward to power nationalist and continental progress.”
He announced that the adjacent AfSNET Investment Forum volition beryllium hosted successful Cross River State successful 2026.
Earlier, President of Woodhall Capital, Mrs. Mojisola Hunponu-Wusu, urged investors to leverage Nigeria’s evolving economical landscape, describing the forum arsenic “a convergence of purpose, concern and vision.” She praised President Bola Tinubu’s economical reforms — including forex liberalisation, speech complaint unification and superior marketplace deepening — arsenic catalytic measures that person boosted capitalist assurance and repositioned Niger...
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