ABUJA, NIGERIA — President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has defended his administration’s fresh foreign loan requests, maintaining that national borrowing must be evaluated by the transformative impact of the projects funded rather than the size of the debt.
Speaking during an address on the federal government’s economic agenda, President Tinubu emphasized that securing international credit is necessary to construct critical infrastructure capable of supporting Nigeria’s target of becoming a $1 trillion economy.
“Securing financing is not the achievement. Completing the project, delivering value, and improving the lives of Nigerians is the achievement,” President Tinubu stated. “We cannot build a $1 trillion economy with infrastructure designed for an economy a fraction of that size.”
The President highlighted major priority initiatives—including the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway project—as strategic economic corridors designed to expand trade, boost industrialization, reduce logistics costs by 15 to 20 percent, and create thousands of direct and indirect jobs across the region.
Tinubu outlined five key focus areas for the next phase of the Federal Executive Council’s strategy:
- Food affordability and energy price stability.
- Budget harmonization and strict fiscal discipline.
- Completion of high-impact infrastructure and critical capital projects.
- Regulatory efficiency and an improved policy framework.
- Targeted household support alongside investments in human development.
The President assured citizens that renewed international investor confidence, growing foreign exchange reserves, and responsible debt management will ensure all borrowed capital yields long-term, sustainable economic growth for future generations.
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