Wale Edun, the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, has reaffirmed the federal government’s commitment to stabilising the nation’s economy.

According to him, manufacturing exports will become more competitive with global counterparts.

Mr Edun said this at the State House, Abuja, on Tuesday after meeting with the First Lady Oluremi Tinubu on the progress toward the upcoming annual general meeting (AGM) of Afreximbank slated for June 24 to 27.

He emphasised Nigeria’s strong partnership with Afreximbank and its commitment to fostering trade and economic growth for Africa and beyond.

The federal government and Afreximbank had signed the Host Country Agreement for the 32nd Afreximbank annual meetings.

The AGM, with the theme, “Building the Future on Decades of Resilience,” will be held in Abuja in June.

The Afreximbank annual meeting is one of the most anticipated gatherings on the African continent, featuring high-level policy discussions, presentations, and side events on issues pertinent to the socio-economic development of Africa, as well as business networking sessions that drive integration through trade and investments.

Mr Edun said the aim of the meeting was to officially seek the support of Mrs Tinubu as Nigeria would be hosting dignitaries and spouses of the heads of state.

The minister emphasised Nigeria’s strong partnership with Afreximbank and its commitment to fostering trade and economic growth for the country and the entire continent.

“What we refer to was the competitiveness of the Nigerian economy, bold and courageous under the leadership of President Bola Tinubu over the last 20 months, the Afreximbank has been reformed, it has been changed, and it has been improved.

“We have a situation now where we have inflation stabilising, food prices crashing down, petroleum prices coming down among other improvement in the economy.

“ There is a focus on helping people with their cost of living, and those reductions in major prices that affect the land, particularly encouraging and heartwarming for Mr President,” the minister said.

According to Mr Edun, everything will be stabilised to a minimal level as time goes on, with policies that will favour indigenous manufacturers so they can compete with others globally.

“Nigeria’s manufacturing exports will be more competitive either the pharmaceutical, health products, beauty products, textiles and agriculture; it makes them competitive to neighbours, especially West Africa and the whole of Africa,” Mr Edun said.

In her response, the First Lady commended the minister and his team for the work they had been doing to ensure the economy stabilised.

“This is one of the ways that God has just been blessing us in this administration with the quality of the people that are running the affairs of the country,” Mrs Tinubu said.

(NAN)