Former Nigerian Finance Minister and current Director General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, met with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, praised his economic reforms, but called for social safety nets for poor Nigerians feeling the pains of his policies.
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala met behind closed doors with President Tinubu at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, on Thursday.
Afterwards, she spoke with newsmen of her meeting and praising the President for his reforms.
However, the WTO boss said that the Nigerian government must next put social safety nets in place for poor citizens to cope with the economic hardship occasioned by the reforms.
Though she commended the President for the economic reforms including petrol subsidy removal and the unification of the foreign exchange windows, the former Nigerian Finance Minister said the government must put social safety nets in place for poor Nigerians to cope with the economic hardship occasioned by the government’s reforms.
She said: “The President and his team have worked hard to stabilize the economy. The reforms have been in the right direction. The next step is growth, and alongside that, building social safety nets so those feeling the pinch of reforms can get support.”
Okonjo-Iweala said the President was “gracious” to receive her shortly after she joined First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, to launch a Women Exporters Fund earlier in the day.
The fund, jointly managed by the WTO and the International Trade Centre, ITC, in Geneva, is aimed at helping Nigerian women entrepreneurs grow their businesses, create jobs, and boost household incomes in the digital economy.
“Nigeria competed and emerged as one of only four countries globally selected for this new programme,” she said. “Out of 67,000 Nigerian women who applied, 146 were chosen as beneficiaries.”
The WTO boss, former Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy under President Goodluck Jonathan, credited the Tinubu administration with achieving stability, a necessary foundation for growth.
“You cannot really improve an economy unless it’s stable,” she noted.
She added that growth, job creation, and income expansion must go hand-in-hand with measures to cushion the impact of ongoing reforms on vulnerable Nigerians.
The Director General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has called on the Federal Government to put social safety nets in place for poor Nigerians who are feeling the pains of President Bola Tinubu’s economic reforms.
The Nigerian president’s meeting with Okonjo-Iweala took place two weeks before the expiration of her first term as WTO Director-General on August 31, 2025, and the commencement of her second term on September 1, 2025.
The renowned development economist and global finance expert made history in 2021 as the first African and first woman to lead the 164-nation-member WTO.
The WTO chief, accompanied by Trade Minister Jumoke Oduwole, also briefed the President on the progress made on the Women’s Exporters’ Fund for the digital economy.
Okonjo-Iweala said, “We came to brief him about something very joyful that we did today with the help of the First Lady.
“We launched a Women’s Exporters’ Fund for the digital economy. This is a fund that is jointly managed by the World Trade Organisation and the International Trade Centre and supports women to weather the storms of the economy and create jobs for themselves.
“It is part of the thinking of the social safety net and what we can do to support Nigerian women to contribute more to the economy and themselves.
“Nigeria competed and was one of four countries that won globally to be part of this initiative.
“We have 67,000 Nigerian women who applied for this, and 146 of them won, and they are going to have money disbursed directly to them.
“Sixteen of them won what we called the Booster Track; those who already have businesses, but their businesses would be scaled up. They would receive technical and business support from the WTO and the ITC for 18 months.
“Another 100 would get $5,000 each to start and strengthen their businesses, with 12-month reforms.”
