Since coming to power in May, Ahmed Bola Tinubu has sought to attract foreign investors to Africa’s largest economy, with reforms such as the abolition of fuel subsidies and the devaluation of the national currency, reports Reuters.
Tinubu participated, in Berlin, in the G20 conference “Compact with Africa”, and from there came the commitment, which foresees the first gas deliveries from 2026. The press release from the Nigerian presidency states that another memorandum was signed agreement with a commitment of US$500 million for green energy projects in Nigeria, aimed, in particular, at integrating more people into the formal economy.
Germany is also discussing a deal to help supply electricity to Nigeria, where the grid is unstable and power cuts are frequent.
When the Nigerian leader came to power, he abandoned the fuel subsidy that, for a long time, kept gasoline prices artificially low, but which was costing the state coffers dearly. Tinubu also devalued the national currency (naira) in order to attract foreign investors discouraged by the complexity of the exchange rate system.
The effect of these measures was to weaken the value of the naira, triple the price of gasoline and average inflation of 27% in the last 12 months, making life very difficult for the population. Germany, which for years depended on cheap Russian gas for its energy supply, was forced to do without this resource following the war in Ukraine last year, and Berlin has been trying, since then, to diversify its sources of supply.
