- President Tinubu extends an open invitation to investors, emphasizing his commitment to economic empowerment and growth.
- Meetings with Bill Gates and Aliko Dangote were held at the state house.
- Bharti Mittal praises the move to floating the naira, expects increased foreign direct investment and eradication of poverty.
Nigeria’s President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has extended an open invitation to investors, emphasizing his commitment to economic empowerment and growth.
According to him, the door of the presidency is open to investors who are on the same page in regard to his mission for economic empowerment and growth.
Tinubu made this known in a Tweet about his meeting with Indian billionaire, Mr. Sunil Bharti Mittal, the Global Chairman of Bharti Airtel, Dr. Segun Ogunsaya, the CEO of Airtel Africa Group, and other members of the Airtel board. The President said,
- “Earlier today, I had a productive interaction with my guests at the Presidential Villa, Mr. Sunil Bharti Mittal, the Global Chairman of Bharti Airtel, Dr. Segun Ogunsanya, the CEO of Airtel Africa Group, and other members of the Airtel board. My door will remain open to investors willing to commit resources to this government’s development mission of economic empowerment, growth, jobs, and opportunity for all Nigerians but most especially our talented and enterprising young people.”
Earlier today, I had a productive interaction with my guests at the Presidential Villa, Mr. Sunil Bharti Mittal, the Global Chairman of Bharti Airtel , Dr. Segun Ogunsanya, the CEO of Airtel Africa Group and other members of the Airtel board.
My door will remain open to… pic.twitter.com/FwfRCQ1BoU
— Bola Ahmed Tinubu (@officialABAT) June 19, 2023
In a separate meeting, President Tinubu also met with billionaire tech founder of Microsoft and co-chair of the Gates Foundation, Bill Gates, alongside the President of Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, at the state house today.
Bharti Mittal reacts to the floating of naira
In a short video seen by Nairametrics on Twitter, the Airtel Chairman also lauded the efforts of the Tinubu administration while expressing his admiration for the move to float the naira. Bharti Mittal mentioned that the decision would increase the influx of foreign direct investment as they had battled to reconcile the market demands with the official rate.
Airtel Chairman Praises Tinubu on Forex Single Window, Says it's A Wish Come True For Investors
Chairman, Bharti Airtel Limited, Sunil Bharti Mittal, has praised President Bola Tinubu's quick actions to address the lack of easy access to foreign exchange.
Mittal described the… pic.twitter.com/yqDt4zrZWi— ARISE NEWS (@ARISEtv) June 19, 2023
He said,
- “I had requested a meeting with His Excellency, the President of Nigeria and I am glad that we were given time early in his tenure to talk about Airtel, India, Nigeria, and the upcoming G20 taking place in India. I must say I am deeply touched by the speed and clarity of mind that the president and his team have displayed within a very short period.
- “One of the biggest problems for foreign investors in this country for many years has been the lack of easily available foreign exchange. We as foreign investors have spent billions of dollars here and do not mind paying whatever the market rate is, the market must decide.
- “But to be prevented from importing critical infrastructure equipment, paying invoices to our partners like IBM and other software agencies was making it extremely difficult for companies. And I’m sure that was the case with others as well.
- “One of the key changes that His Excellency the President has made in the first few days of his tenure has been making Naira free float onto the market, letting the market decide, as opposed to CBN’s very convoluted structure, which was very difficult to navigate for companies like us and many, many others.
- “As you’ve all seen, the naira has devalued but the worldwide markets have given a standing ovation to this move. And the dollar bonds have strengthened here in Nigeria, and generally, there is an excitement in the investing and companies who are going to be coming to put up their bases here in Nigeria.”
Details of the meeting
Bharti Mittal added that the conversations with President Tinubu also touched on core issues affecting the people and noted that the government is committed to eradicating poverty. He disclosed the peculiarity of Nigeria’s problem with poverty was like the previous reality in some parts of the country. He gave actionable insights on the strategies to ensure that poverty is driven out of Nigeria.
According to him,
- “I also saw the President’s deep commitment to removing poverty. I come from a country India where we also have had decades of poverty, which has been rapidly minimized and eradicated in some parts through the intervention of massive infrastructure investment, massive digital ecosystem creation, and using digital infrastructure to provide services by the government to its citizens be that direct benefit transfer in the form of cash in the hands of people.
- “Biometric-based banking transactions biometric based health services during the COVID time India as you know, through the biometric could ensure that every citizen of the country was inoculated and vaccinated. And all these things that the technology can offer and more are not fully at display in India and available to its trendy countries in Africa like Nigeria.”
