President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has called on the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) to step up efforts to mobilise Africa’s human, financial and natural resources to accelerate the continent’s industrialisation and economic transformation.
The President made the call on Tuesday while receiving a delegation from Afreximbank, led by its President and Chairman of the Board, Dr George Elombi, at the State House, Abuja.
Tinubu said Africa must move beyond discussions on development and focus on practical actions that promote industrial growth, expand trade, create jobs and add value to the continent’s abundant natural resources.
“The conscience and the future of Africa depend on what you and your team can do and will do for Africa as a whole, and the time has come for us to start doing things together as Africans,” the President said.
He stressed that Africa has the resources required to build a prosperous economy but must end the practice of exporting raw materials without local processing.
“We have what it takes to build this continent. Do we continue to exploit and export raw materials without value addition? That answer is no,” Tinubu declared.
The President urged Afreximbank to support investments in value addition, particularly in the solid minerals sector.
“We have solid mineral deposits such as lithium and others that can be used, and you, as the financial partner, should be able to come with investment guarantees for the production and value addition in batteries and other manufacturing ecosystems,” he said.
Tinubu also defended his administration’s economic reforms, including the removal of fuel subsidy and the unification of multiple exchange rates, describing them as necessary steps to tackle corruption and stabilise the economy.
Speaking on agriculture and food security, the President said the creation of the Federal Ministry of Livestock Development was aimed at transforming the longstanding farmer-herder conflict into an economic opportunity.
“I created the Livestock Ministry to create economic opportunities for Africans. The cotton, ginnery and garment industries are job creators. If we partner well and incorporate these ideas and do less talking and really put our heads into developmental programmes, we can turn it around,” he said.
Tinubu also urged Afreximbank to deepen collaboration with the Bank of Agriculture by investing in agricultural value chains, particularly cocoa, palm kernel and palm oil production.
Earlier, the Minister of State for Industry, Senator John Owan Enoh, said the administration’s Eight-Point Renewed Hope Agenda was repositioning Nigeria for sustainable economic growth through investments in solid minerals, manufacturing, agriculture, oil and gas, the digital economy and value-added exports.
Speaking on behalf of the bank, Afreximbank President and Chairman of the Board, Dr George Elombi, thanked Tinubu for supporting his emergence as president of the institution and briefed him on the bank’s activities in Nigeria.
Elombi disclosed that Afreximbank has invested between $15 billion and $20 billion in Nigeria over the past five years across trade, agricultural processing, healthcare and other strategic sectors.
He also announced that the bank has committed $2 billion to support Nigeria’s cotton and garment industry, while investing in major infrastructure projects, including the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway and the Kano-Maradi Railway.
Elombi said the bank is also supporting efforts to reduce medical tourism in Africa through investments in healthcare infrastructure.
He invited President Tinubu to visit the African Medical Centre of Excellence (AMCE) in Abuja as part of ongoing efforts to strengthen healthcare delivery on the continent.