The Director-General of the World Trade Organisation, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has applauded the economic reforms of the Tinubu-led administration, affirming that the measures are progressing in the right direction.
Okonjo-Iweala stated this on Thursday to State House Correspondents, while speaking on her meeting with the President at his residence, Presidential Villa, Abuja.
Noting that the President and his team had worked hard to stabilise the Nigerian economy, the Director-General of the World Trade Organisation, Okonjo-Iweala, commended President Bola Tinubu for initiating the stability, she emphasised that the president rightfully deserves credit for the notable achievements.
“So we think that the President and his team have worked hard to stabilise the economy, and you cannot improve an economy unless it’s stable,” she said.
Okonjo-Iweala underscored the need to improve on the achieved growth further improving the economy and increasing the social safety nets to cushion the effects of the ongoing economic reforms on the citizens she said that with this support more Nigerians will be able to withstand the hardship.
Okonjo-Iweala emphasised the imperative to build upon the achieved growth by further strengthening the economy and expanding social safety nets.
The WTO DG also noted that these measures are essential to mitigate the impact of ongoing economic reforms on citizens.
“So he has to be given the credit for the stability of the economy. So the reforms have been in the right direction. What is needed next is growth. We now need to grow the economy, and we need to put in social safety nets so that people who are feeling the pinch of the reforms can also have some support to be able to weather the hardship. So that’s the next step.
“How do we build a social safety net to help Nigerians cushion the hardship they are feeling, and then, how do we grow the economy so we can create more jobs and put more money in people’s pockets? These are issues that we discussed with Mr. President,” she stated.
Earlier in the day, Okonjo-Iweala had participated in the launch of a Women Exporters Fund for the digital economy, facilitated by the First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu.
The initiative, jointly managed by the WTO and the International Trade Centre (ITC) in Geneva, aims to support Nigerian women entrepreneurs to scale their businesses, create jobs, and strengthen the economy.
Nigeria is one of four countries selected globally for the scheme, with the effort coordinated locally by the Ministry of Trade and Investment and the Nigerian Export Promotion Council. Out of 67,000 Nigerian women who applied, 146 were selected to benefit from the fund.
According to Okonjo-Iweala, 16 beneficiaries won the “booster track” category for established businesses and will receive 18 months of technical and business support, while another 100 will get direct grants of $5,000 each and 12 months of business support to start or scale their enterprises.
“This is just the beginning,” she said,
She noted that the goal is to enable more Nigerian women to weather economic challenges, create jobs, and contribute more to national growth
