‘The President is doing well’ – Okonjo-Iweala hails Tinubu’s economic reforms

Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO), Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has praised the economic reforms implemented under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, noting that they have helped restore stability to Nigeria’s economy.

She made the remarks on Thursday during a meeting with President Tinubu at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.

The discussion took place behind closed doors, shortly before the President embarked on a two-nation working trip to Japan and Brazil, with a brief stopover in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

The WTO boss, who described the meeting as “very good”, said the President was “gracious” to receive her shortly after she joined First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, to launch a Women Exporters Fund earlier in the day.

The fund, jointly managed by the WTO and the International Trade Centre (ITC) in Geneva, is aimed at helping Nigerian women entrepreneurs grow their businesses, create jobs, and boost household incomes in the digital economy.

“Nigeria competed and emerged as one of only four countries globally selected for this new programme,” she said. “Out of 67,000 Nigerian women who applied, 146 were chosen as beneficiaries.”

Sixteen of the winners, under the “Booster Track”, already run businesses that will be scaled up with 18 months of technical and business support from the WTO, ITC, the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, and the Nigerian Export Promotion Council. Another 100 will each receive $5,000 in direct funding along with a year of business development support, while the remainder will access tailored assistance to strengthen their enterprises.

“This is just the beginning,” Okonjo-Iweala said, stressing the programme’s potential to expand Nigeria’s economic base and empower women.

On the economy, the WTO chief credited the Tinubu administration with achieving stability, a necessary foundation for growth.

“You cannot really improve an economy unless it’s stable,” she noted.
“The President and his team have worked hard to stabilise the economy. The reforms have been in the right direction. The next step is growth, and alongside that, building social safety nets so those feeling the pinch of reforms can get support.”

She added that growth, job creation, and income expansion must go hand in hand with measures to cushion the impact of ongoing reforms on vulnerable Nigerians.