The British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Dr. Richard Montgomery Wednesday gave a positive mark to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu ongoing reforms.
Montgomery said the reforms are working and increasingly making Nigeria accessible for foreign investors.
This is coming on the heels of President Tinubu’s declaration on Tuesday that despite strident criticisms, he would remain focused on his reform programmes, which are already yielding fruits.
Envoy who spoke openly in support of the administration’s ongoing various reforms while briefing the media on the United Kingdom’s new Nigeria- UK Economic Growth Agenda said that there is a great prospect of inflation coming down in the coming months given the level of work ongoing, including bank reforms.
He spoke in the company of The Director General of the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council, PEBEC, Princess Zahrah Mustapha Audu and Britiah Country Director, Department for Business, Mr Mark Smithson.
Montgomery who also agreed with the World Bank’s recent economic outlook, said that there is a real uptick in growth.
He said: “Now, the UK sees growing opportunities in Nigeria for a combination of reasons, but the main ones are the exciting economic reforms underway, so let me turn to those. And I’ve been very public previously about commending the big and bold economic reforms being taken forward by His Excellency, the President, Bola Amin Tinebu.
“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 investable. And I realise that some of these reforms for ordinary people are painful.
“Inflation is still high, it’s in the 20% region, the mid-twenties, 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.”
On the recent World Bank’ economic update on Nigeria, Montgomery said: “We agree with the report, the main messages of which are that the Naira is now more stable and predictability enables investment. 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 haves but by tax administration and management.
“It’s almost a 90% increase in the amount of resources being collected, partly through administrative management and making sure that revenues from various Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) reach the treasury.
“And that increase in revenue means reductions in the fiscal deficit. It means that the combination of increased revenue and the abolition of fuel subsidy have doubled federal allocations to the states, enabling more investment in infrastructure as well as public services.
“And most importantly, we’re seeing the growth rate in Nigeria tick up. So between 2015 and 2019, the growth rate in Nigeria was an average of 2%. It’s now, in the last 12 months, at least about 3.5%, but most positively, in the last quarter for which we have data, it’s up to 4.5%, 4.6%.
“So there’s a real uptick in growth and there are other indicators that suggest that businesses are planning to expand, that business optimism is shifting.”
He stressed the importance of the latest trajectory which he described as a good indicator to woo foreign and local investors.
“So there’s something called the Purchasing Managers’ Index, which has risen significantly and that’s a proxy indicator for businesses that want to buy more and invest more and expand more. And all of that means more jobs in the pipeline. We’re also watching a second wave of reform,” he said.
He was also of the opinion that the tax reform before the National Assembly will immediately impact on the economy once it becomes operational.
But we’re watching the new tax legislation, which will simplify costs and predictability for business.
There is, of course, the impact of the new Dangote oil refineries, which are going to reduce the strain on the foreign exchange reserves and add value in the Nigerian economy.
“His Excellency the President is shaking up the oil and gas industry. The appointments in the NNPC seem to be very credible in the international oil and gas industry. That will attract more investment.
“There are other issues like the recapitalisation of banks, which will, we believe, lead to more lending into the real economy or real businesses. And, of course, transport and fibre optic networks are being expanded in parts of the country to create more opportunities. So, a big headline.
“These reforms are working. They’re making Nigeria more investable.”
“So I accept that reforms are challenging, but stay the course. You’re getting a lot of interest. If you take all these small reforms together, Nigeria is becoming much more investable, and the perception of Nigeria as an investment, as a future market, is growing.”
