The International Finance Corporation (IFC) has announced plans to send a mission to Nigeria to explore scalable investment structures that could unlock private capital in the country's livestock and energy sectors. Managing Director Diop Makhtar made this known in Kigali, Rwanda, during a meeting with President Bola Tinubu on the sidelines of the 13th Africa CEO Summit.
Makhtar, who led an IFC delegation that included Regional Vice President for Africa Ethiopis Tafara and Director for Central Africa and Nigeria Dahlia Khalifa, expressed interest in discussing modalities for collaboration with Nigeria in energy, housing, and livestock production. He lauded President Tinubu for the bold reforms initiated by his administration, particularly the removal of the fuel subsidy and the harmonization of the nation's exchange rate.
Makhtar described Nigeria's reform process as courageous and transformative, sending a strong signal to international investors about the country's commitment to difficult but necessary reforms. He said local currency facilities and banking partnerships, including structures involving Nigerian financial institutions such as Access Bank, could strengthen efforts towards interstate financial integration, ease trade, and enhance business across the continent.
Makhtar emphasized that African leaders face common development challenges and must collectively drive what he described as an "African Renaissance" built around strong African institutions and regional economic champions.
During the meeting, President Tinubu reaffirmed Nigeria's openness to harnessing private capital for institutional development. He stated that it has become imperative for African pension funds to evolve into strategic development finance instruments capable of supporting major infrastructure and productive-sector investments.
President Tinubu also said African leaders, as well as the private sector, must focus on mobilizing African institutional capital to finance infrastructure, energy transition, and long-term economic transformation across the continent. He described this as fundamental to the realization of the continental effort to upscale development and lift the continent out of its present socio-economic challenges.
Tinubu further stressed the need to decentralize energy systems and transmission infrastructure to attract private-sector investment, including strengthening regional interconnectivity and transmission lines as part of Africa's long-term industrialization agenda. "If you want Africa to leapfrog, then energy transmission and decentralization are important. The funding gap is there, and we must work together," the President said.
A State House statement signed by the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, indicated that the meeting discussed mechanisms for using institutional investors, local currency financing structures, and swap arrangements to deepen infrastructure funding.
