The Federal Executive Council (FEC) yesterday approved Nigeria’s full membership of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) as a non-regional member, marking a significant milestone in the country’s international economic engagement.
The Council also approved the transmission of a bill to the National Assembly to establish the National Cocoa Management Board, in a bid to revitalise the cocoa sector.
Speaking to journalists at the State House, Abuja, after the FEC meeting presided over by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, said the decision to formalise Nigeria’s membership in the AIIB is aimed at boosting infrastructure development and promoting long-term economic growth.
‘First of all and very specifically, I had the honour to present to the Federal Executive Council today a memo seeking the approval of the membership of Nigeria to the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, as a non-regional member’, Edun said.
He explained that although the AIIB is headquartered in Asia and primarily composed of Asian countries, it also accepts non-regional members.
Nigeria was initially invited to join in 2021, and has now completed the legal, administrative, and financial processes required for membership.
‘We’ve concluded that process now, and we are fully fledged members of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, which is set up to promote infrastructure development and generally sustained economic growth in all its members’, he said.
Nigeria’s subscription includes 50 shares at a value of $100,000 per share, totaling $5 million.
Edun also provided insights from the recent World Bank/IMF Spring Meetings in Washington DC, during which he said Nigeria’s macroeconomic reform efforts under President Tinubu were affirmed by international partners.
He cited the IMF’s Article IV Consultation as evidence of growing confidence in the economy.
‘It is the resilience that has been created by the macroeconomic reforms that stabilised the economy that have allowed us to cope with the recent introduction of reciprocal tariffs in America and the turbulence that has caused’, Edun noted.
The finance minister also recalled that global ratings agency Fitch had recently upgraded Nigeria’s credit outlook from B- to B with a positive outlook, further validating the administration’s reform agenda.
According to Edun, President Tinubu reiterated during the meeting his firm commitment to continue economic reforms, moving beyond stability towards ‘rapid, sustained, inclusive growth that will help lift Nigerians, in their millions, out of poverty’.
Meanwhile, in a separate briefing, the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Abubakar Kyari, announced that the Council had approved a draft bill seeking to establish the National Cocoa Management Board, which will be forwarded to the National Assembly through the Ministry of Justice.
Kyari underscored cocoa’s importance as Nigeria’s leading non-oil foreign exchange earner and a vital contributor to GDP.
‘Cocoa is the highest non-oil revenue contributor to the Nigerian GDP. However, we are still lagging behind in terms of our competitors next door — that is between Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana’, he said.
He noted that both countries have national boards to manage their cocoa industries and that Nigeria had initiated dialogue with them to explore collaborative frameworks.
‘Part of the resolution that was reached was to copy what they had done in Cote d’Ivoire and also in Ghana, where they have established the National Cocoa Management Board’, he said.
Kyari explained that prior to the FEC memo, the Ministry had set up a Cocoa Management Committee to assess the feasibility of the new board.
The committee’s findings informed the bill now approved for transmission.
The proposed board will comprise representatives from both the public and private sectors, including state governments and research institutions.
‘I believe representatives of sub-nationals will be the deputy governors and also the cocoa research institutes’, he said, adding that the board would help improve production, processing, and marketing of cocoa across the country.
