Nigeria’s new Finance Minister Taiwo Oyedele pledged to maintain his predecessor’s market reforms, ruling out a return to fuel subsidies or price controls while courting global investors including Citigroup Inc. and PGIM.
“We will not bring back subsidy because it creates distortion in the economy, and we will not introduce price controls because we believe in markets,” Oyedele said on X after Tuesday’s meeting in Paris., his first overseas trip since replacing Wale Edun last month.
Reform Continuity
President Bola Tinubu’s delegation—also featuring Debt Management Office head Patience Oniha—backed the 2023 overhaul that axed import bans, freed the naira and killed costly fuel subsidies. Tinubu, eyeing re-election in January 2027, faces double-digit inflation after March prices rose amid the Iran war’s energy shock.
Oyedele, ex-chair of the tax reform panel, sees the conflict as an “opportunity” for Nigeria to draw energy investment as the world diversifies supply.
Oil Revenue Focus
Africa’s biggest crude producer aims to maximize high oil prices for revenue and inflation relief, critical ahead of elections and with fiscal deficits lingering.
The stance will reassure Eurobond holders but test Tinubu’s political appeal as living costs bite voters.
Follow the MoneyCentral Nigeria channel on WhatsApp: Click here!
