Nigeria targets $100bn economic boost from credit expansion — Oyedele

Nigeria is targeting more than $100 billion in incremental economic value from expanding the country’s credit economy as the government seeks to convert macroeconomic stability into investment, productivity and shared prosperity, Taiwo Oyedele, minister of Finance and coordinating minister of the Economy, has said.

Oyedele disclosed this at the 14th BusinessDay Annual CEO Forum in Lagos, saying making the credit economy work more effectively was one of the key opportunities identified by the government in its plan to achieve a $1 trillion economy by 2030.

“We have identified the growth sectors. We have identified the new economies. We have identified what actions we need to take, by whom, by when, and what incremental value will be created,” he said.

“For example, just making the credit economy work for us will create an incremental increase of more than $100 billion.”

He said the government’s economic transition strategy was built around moving from macroeconomic stabilisation to growth and then shared prosperity.

According to him, the government’s objective is to convert stability into investment, investment into productivity, productivity into jobs and jobs into rising real incomes for Nigerians.

Oyedele said Nigeria needed significant investment, both domestic and foreign, across small, medium-sized and large businesses to achieve sustained growth.

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He said the government was therefore working to create a more predictable and attractive investment environment through regulatory predictability, institutional integrity and the rule of law.

“Capital has no passport. It does not respond to emotional appeals or patriotic rhetoric. It responds to stable policy, strong institutions and diligent execution of policies,” he said.

He said Nigeria’s goal was to become one of the most attractive, predictable and legally secure destinations for long-term capital globally.

Oyedele said the government had also identified formalisation as another major opportunity for expanding economic activity and capturing more value from businesses operating in the informal sector.

He said the Corporate Affairs Commission had reported that an average of 10,000 informal businesses were applying to register every day.

“The results are not only impressive; they are much better than anything we had anticipated,” he said.

Oyedele said the government’s focus was now on helping newly formalised businesses build skills, access affordable capital and improve their management capacity so they could grow.

He said this would not only stimulate growth and shared prosperity but also enable the government to better capture the value created by those businesses.

The minister said small and medium-sized enterprises were being supported through a range of measures, including tax reforms and access to affordable credit.

He said small businesses had been exempted from corporate income tax under the new tax reforms, while the government was also working to expand access to funding.

According to him, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu had approved hundreds of billions of naira for the Bank of Industry to provide credit to small businesses, with similar funding approved for the Bank of Agriculture.

He said the government’s broader credit economy strategy would support small businesses and local enterprises.

Oyedele said Nigeria’s $1 trillion economy target by 2030 was “possible, feasible and realistic”, adding that the government had identified the sectors and actions required to achieve it.

He identified technology and digital services, agro-processing, energy, manufacturing and financial services as key sectoral engines of growth.

In financial services, he said the government was focused on deepening the capital markets and improving access to credit for small and medium-sized businesses as well as large organisations.

“Our goal is to transform Nigeria into the premier financial gateway for the African continent,” he said.

Oyedele said the government was also seeking stronger coordination between fiscal and monetary authorities, the federal and subnational governments, the private sector and international partners.

He said the government’s fiscal reforms, including stronger expenditure controls, an expanded non-oil revenue base and sustainable debt management, would create the environment needed for monetary authorities to maintain price stability and support the naira.

He added that a stable and predictable monetary environment would enable the government to plan fiscal policy with greater confidence.

“Our aim is to avoid policy surprises, no sudden reversals and no administrative friction. We are aligned, coordinated and committed to strategic clarity,” Oyedele said.

The minister urged businesses to respond to the reforms with greater investment and innovation, saying the next phase of Nigeria’s economic development could not be driven by government alone.

“We need banks that finance productive, long-term local industry rather than short-term trading. We need manufacturers who build for domestic consumption and export capacity. We need technology companies that solve real-world problems,” he said.

Oyedele said the government was working to simplify the regulatory environment, protect intellectual property and remove bureaucratic bottlenecks that consume businesses’ time and resources.

“In return, we ask you to match our reforms with your investments, your innovation and your belief in Nigeria’s future,” he said.

He said the next phase of the reform programme would require a stronger partnership between government and the private sector.

“We have completed the difficult foundational work of restoring macroeconomic stability. Our shared responsibility now is to convert that stability into investment, convert investment into productivity, convert productivity into jobs and jobs into rising real incomes for every Nigerian,” Oyedele said.