IFC targets Nigeria’s livestock, energy sectors with fresh investment drive

The International Finance Corporation (IFC) says it will immediately send a team to Nigeria to explore scalable investment opportunities in livestock production, energy, and housing.

IFC Managing Director, Makhtar Diop, disclosed this on Thursday during a meeting with President Bola Tinubu on the sidelines of the 13th Africa CEO Summit in Kigali, Rwanda.

Diop, who led an IFC delegation that included Regional Vice President for Africa, Ethiopis Tafara, and Director for Central Africa and Nigeria, Dahlia Khalifa, said the corporation was interested in discussing investment collaboration with Nigeria in key sectors of the economy.

He commended President Tinubu for what he described as bold economic reforms, particularly the removal of fuel subsidy and the unification of the foreign exchange market.

According to him, the reforms have sent positive signals to global investors about Nigeria’s willingness to undertake difficult but necessary economic decisions.

“President Tinubu, you have been so courageous in removing the subsidy. When you did it, I said to myself, President Tinubu took the bull by the horns,” Diop said.

During the meeting, Tinubu reaffirmed Nigeria’s commitment to attracting private capital for national development and infrastructure growth.

The President stressed the need for African pension funds to evolve into strategic development finance tools capable of supporting infrastructure and productive-sector investments across the continent.

He also called on African leaders and the private sector to prioritise the mobilisation of African institutional capital to fund infrastructure, energy transition, and long-term economic transformation.

“If you want Africa to leapfrog, then energy transmission and decentralisation are important. The funding gap is there, and we must work together,” Tinubu said.

The discussions also focused on local currency financing structures, swap arrangements, and mechanisms for strengthening infrastructure funding through institutional investors.

Diop noted that partnerships involving Nigerian financial institutions, including Access Bank, could help deepen interstate financial integration, facilitate trade, and improve business activities across Africa.

He added that African countries must work together to build stronger institutions and regional economic champions capable of driving what he described as an “African Renaissance.”