The president, Nigerian Economic Society and former Head, Department of Economics University of Ibadan, Professor Adeola Adenikinju
The Nigerian Economics Society (NES) has scored President Bola Tinubu’s economic policies high and said the measures have succeeded in stabilising the economy and attracting investors.
President of the society, Prof Adeola Adenikinju said in Abuja that the policies which many people initially considered harmful have now turned out to be good for the country.
Adenikinju told reporters at the closing ceremony of the NES Annual Conference 2025 in Abuja that stakeholders in the economy are showing confidence in the market and are willing to invest more.
Investors are returning because they can see transparency in the market, he added.
His words: “They (investors) are willing to repatriate their money. They are seeing more transparency in the market. They have more confidence in the market.
“Investments are coming back. So, basically, what we see now is that there is enhanced confidence.
“So let us cover the economy. I see that also in the capital market and the extremely bullish, you know, it has come up very, very significantly.”
Adenikinju also said the rating agencies are very positive while the Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) market which is very important to the economy has stabilised.
He, however, noted that there are issues with the social parts of the country that relate to unemployment and poverty.
Nigeria Country Director General of the African Development Bank (ADB), Dr. Abdul Kamara who spoke on the Policy Dialogue on “Driving Africa’s Economic Transformation in Transition States: The Role of Capacity Development and Knowledge Management” and a sub theme: “Rethinking Africa’s Development: Pathways to Economic Transformation and Social Inclusion, in a Changing Global Economic Landscape”, said the themes were timely because they focused on the importance of economic growth and transformation at a time when the global development financing landscape is changing.
Kamara said achieving economic transformation in Africa, especially in Transition States, is one that is of great interest to the African Development Bank.
He recalled how the bank led a study, in collaboration with the African Union and AUDA-NEPAD, on “Key Actions to Achieve Inclusive Growth and Sustainable Development in Africa”, in 2024.
The report, he said, identified and prioritised key policies, actions, measures and instruments required to drive high-level inclusive growth and sustainable development in Africa to achieve AU Agenda 2063.
According to him, the study found that for Africa to achieve sustainable development, it must rapidly scale up economic growth rate to at least 7 percent annually, and GDP per capita of not less than 3.5 percent consistently, for four to five decades.
He stressed that the continent should also evenly distribute the benefits of growth to improve the quality of life of all Africans in the short, medium, and long terms.
This, he said, would require high productivity in key economic sectors to drive Africa’s GDP, and GDP per capita growth rates, to higher levels, through implementing inclusive and environmentally sustainable policies.
