At the opening of the G-24 Technical Group Meeting in Abuja, Nigeria’s Finance Minister and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, set out a strategy to move away from costly external borrowing toward a growth model driven by domestic reforms, private capital and diversified financing instruments. He framed the approach around a medium-term objective of average growth of 7%, which he linked to raising the investment-to-GDP ratio to at least 30%. With public sector financing capacity put at roughly 5% of GDP, the strategy prioritises attracting private capital through structured public-private partnerships, optimising public assets and developing bankable, de-risked investment opportunities. Edun also pointed to broad-based tax reforms, including a modernised tax law and improved compliance and automation through initiatives such as the National Single Window, with an aim to raise the tax-to-GDP ratio to 18% in the medium term. Edun urged G-24 members to advocate reforms to the global financial architecture, including strengthening the International Monetary Fund’s global financial safety net, expanding concessional lending by multilateral development banks and prioritising local currency financing. In a separate keynote at the meeting, Central Bank of Nigeria Governor Olayemi Cardoso highlighted the need for reforms in digital cross-border payment systems and described efforts to modernise regulatory and supervisory frameworks, including stronger oversight of payment infrastructure providers and enhanced anti-money laundering measures.

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