ABUJA, June 6 (Xinhua) -- Nigerian President Bola Tinubu on Thursday called for international development financiers to see the African continent as a destination for growth and prosperity, urging for more strategic investments in agriculture, infrastructure, research, and development.
Speaking at a meeting with a delegation of the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, led by its managing director Makhtar Diop in Abuja, the Nigerian capital, Tinubu emphasized that Africa has the potential for growth, peace, stability, and prosperity, noting "the world has to see us as a continent that can help the rest of the world, and not perceive us as backward, unstable, and with leadership problems."
"The expectations of the rest of the world on Africa have to change. By looking at Africa as a potential opportunity and not a danger to the rest of the free world, we can stimulate growth and propel inclusiveness," the Nigerian leader said.
According to Tinubu, Africa was ready to change the narrative and work to prove it, ready for serious business, regardless of the perception.
"I am an African and proud to be and will maintain the strong position to collaborate with the rest of the world to see Africa as a destination for growth and prosperity," he told the IFC delegation led by the Senegal-born Diop.
Nigeria holds the second-largest IFC portfolio in Africa with an active investment portfolio of 2.1 billion U.S. dollars as of April, Tinubu noted.
Diop said during his working visit to Nigeria that the IFC had engaged in productive discussions with Nigerian partners to enhance agriculture, increase food production through irrigation farming, upgrade transport networks, and bolster regional integration. He affirmed the IFC's long-term commitment to growing agribusiness in Nigeria, saying that the international development financier had also aided small and medium enterprises in the agricultural sector.
Diop added that the corporation would also partner with the Nigerian government on new investments in irrigation, road infrastructure, and more. ■