Tinubu's economic reforms are paying off - British high commissioner

The British high commissioner to Nigeria, Richard Montgomery, has lauded President Bola Tinubu's administration's ongoing reforms, saying the policies have made Nigeria a more investible destination.

The envoy made this known during a press briefing in Abuja on Wednesday, May 14, 2025, attributing the positive signs to President Tinubu’s “big and bold” economic reforms.

He noted that he has been very publicly vocal about his commendations for the economic reforms, declaring the scrapping of the petrol subsidy and the unification of the exchange rate system as major game changers.

"These economic reforms are now making Nigeria more investible," Montgomery stated.

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“We all know about the abolition of the fuel subsidy, we all know about the unification of the exchange rate system, and my headline this morning is that these economic reforms are paying off, and these economic reforms are now making Nigeria more investible.

“I realise that some of these reforms for ordinary people are painful.

“Inflation is still high; it’s in the 20 percent territory in the mid-20s. And it’s going to take time to bring that rate down.

“But we can see very good prospects for that rate coming down in the coming months and years,” he said.

British envoy aligns with World Bank

Montgomery said the British commission aligns with the World Bank’s May 2025 Nigeria Development Update (NDU), which affirmed that the naira is now more stable and that a predictable economic environment buoys investments.

“Foreign exchange reserves are up, significantly up, so that makes Nigeria less risky. There’s been a very big increase in government revenue collection, not by raising tax banks, but by tax administration and management,” he added.

“It’s almost a 90 percent increase in the amount of resources we’ve collected, partly through administrative management and making sure that revenues from various MDAs reach the treasury, and that increase in revenue means reductions in fiscal deficit.

“It means that the combination of increased revenue and the abolition of the fuel subsidy have doubled federal allocations to the states, enabling more investments in infrastructure and public services.

“Most importantly, we’re seeing a growth rate in Nigeria, too, so between 2015 and 2019, the growth rate in Nigeria was an average of 2 percent.

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“It’s now, in the last 12 months, at least about 3.5 percent. But most positively, in the last quarter for which we have data, it’s up to 4.6 percent. So there’s a real uptick in growth.”

In conclusion, he said businesses are looking to expand amid growing optimism, as evidenced by a significant rise in the Purchasing Manager’s Index (PMI).