Nigeria’s sub-national governments are set to embark on a worldwide funding drive throughout London, Dubai, and Abu Dhabi, as a part of efforts to draw international capital and deepen intra-African commerce beneath the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Tinubu.
The initiative, collectively anchored by Woodhall Capital and the Nigeria Governors’ Discussion board (NGF), was introduced on Friday on the Pre-Traders Discussion board on Intra-African Commerce and Funding held on the Banquet Corridor of the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
Held beneath the theme “Facilitating Intra-African Commerce: Unlocking the Potential of African Direct Investments (ADI) and International Direct Investments (FDI) to Drive Commerce and Sustainable Progress,”the Pre-Investor Discussion board spotlighted how Nigeria’s subnational governments can act as anchors for regional financial integration beneath the African Continental Free Commerce Space (AfCFTA).
Delivering her keynote tackle, the President of Woodhall Capital, Mrs. Mojisola Hunponu-Wusu, stated the forthcoming international funding boards have been designed to attach Nigerian states straight with financiers, buyers, and growth companions desperate to take part within the nation’s subsequent section of financial transformation.
She stated the partnership with the NGF marked “a deliberate and strategic step to reposition Nigeria’s subnational governments as anchors of funding, commerce, and growth.”
“This discussion board shouldn’t be merely a dialog; it’s a bridge — connecting coverage with capital, Nigeria with the world, and imaginative and prescient with measurable influence,” Hunponu-Wusu acknowledged.
She counseled the administration of President Tinubu for the daring financial reforms which have restored investor confidence, citing the liberalisation of the international change market, unification of change charges, and the strengthening of the home capital markets as landmark insurance policies driving renewed international curiosity in Nigeria.
“The liberalisation of the foreign exchange market and different macroeconomic reforms are catalytic insurance policies which have redefined Nigeria’s funding panorama and positioned the nation as a reputable and aggressive vacation spot,” she added.
Hunponu-Wusu expressed appreciation to Afreximbank for its “instrumental function” in supporting subnational growth, describing the Financial institution as a “cornerstone of Africa’s financial transformation.”
She paid tribute to Dr. Benedict Oramah, the outgoing President of Afreximbank, for his visionary management and welcomed the incoming President, Dr. George Elombi, expressing confidence that the partnership would deepen beneath his watch.
She additionally counseled the collaborative efforts of the Presidential Enabling Enterprise Atmosphere Council (PEBEC), the Workplace of the Senior Particular Assistant to the President on Worldwide Cooperation (OSSAP-IC), and the Northwest Governors’ Discussion board (NWGF), noting that their synergy displays a brand new mannequin of cooperation between the private and non-private sectors.
“This partnership reveals how alignment amongst purpose-driven establishments can transfer us past administrative coordination to significant progress,” she stated.
Hunponu-Wusu lauded the NGF for launching Investopedia, a digital platform offering verified, state-level funding alternatives throughout Nigeria. In line with her, the platform will improve transparency and make states extra enticing to international buyers.
In her goodwill remarks, the Director-Basic of PEBEC, Princess Zahrah Mustapha Audu, reaffirmed the federal authorities’s dedication to enhancing Nigeria’s enterprise setting and competitiveness.
She stated that past simplifying procedures, the Council’s aim is to “construct the belief that buyers must make long-term commitments,” highlighting reforms such because the Regulatory Affect Evaluation (RIA) framework and the State Motion on Enterprise Enabling Reforms (SABER) programme geared toward strengthening state-level funding attraction.
“Africa’s development lies not solely in attracting international funding but in addition in mobilising African capital for African growth,” she stated.
“We should proceed to shut the hole between coverage ambition and enterprise actuality by harmonising laws, guaranteeing coverage consistency, and deepening public–personal partnerships.”
The Pre-Traders Discussion board, attended by representatives of the Vice President, Senator Kashim Shettima, and senior officers from Afreximbank, the diplomatic corps, and the personal sector, units the stage for the Nigeria Governors’ Discussion board–Woodhall Capital Worldwide Traders Discussion board, which can start in London earlier than transferring to Dubai and Abu Dhabi.
Organisers say the worldwide tour will enable governors to current state-specific funding portfolios on to international buyers, growth finance establishments, and strategic companions.
“Collectively, we’re shaping a brand new period of collaboration outlined by shared imaginative and prescient, mutual belief, and daring motion,” Hunponu-Wusu stated.
“The momentum is right here, the imaginative and prescient is obvious, and the alternatives are boundless. Nigeria and Africa are open for enterprise.”
A serious spotlight of the occasion was the formal signing of strategic MoUs and partnership agreements between Woodhall Capital and Afreximbank, together with the Africa Commerce Gateway (ATG) Contract, which upgrades Woodhall Capital from a Market Maker Settlement to a Strategic Commerce Hall Associate, and the Inventive Hub MoU between Afreximbank’s Inventive Africa Nexus (CANEX) and Woodhall Capital, geared toward financing Africa’s artistic economic system and remodeling cultural belongings into globally tradable funding lessons.
