As part of his ongoing engagement with key economic stakeholders in the United States, Nigeria Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo met with the World Bank Group President, David Malpass to seek support for Nigeria Energy Transition Plan. Nigeria, the most populous country in Africa, aims to achieve net zero emissions by 2060.
The World Bank Group President, David Malpass welcomes Nigeria’s commitment to achieving universal energy access and plans to reduce GHG emissions.
Nigeria Energy Transition Plan is also designed to lift 100 million people out of poverty, drive economic growth and bring modern energy services to the entire population.
Malpass however stressed the need for Nigeria to have a unified exchange rate system that would significantly improve the business enabling environment in Nigeria, attract foreign direct investment and reduce inflation.
According to a statement published on the World Bank website on Thursday, Malpass also assured Nigeria of the bank’s support in putting an end to fuel subsidies that have eaten into the nation’s revenue and other key resources.
World Bank Country Director for Nigeria, Shubham Chaudhuri, had earlier said Nigeria would continue to face fiscal pressures because of its ballooning cost of fuel subsidy at a time production continues to decline.
In 2021, Nigeria expended N1.43 trillion on fuel subsidies while the federal government had projected to spend N6.72 trillion on fuel subsidies in 2023.
In January this year, the Federal Government ignored warnings from economists and multilateral agencies such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, to retain the controversial fuel subsidies for another 18 months. This was despite earlier threats of protests by the Nigerian Labour Congress and other interest groups.
The statement from the World Bank also noted that both Malpass and Osinbajo discussed the importance of increasing internal revenue by broadening Nigeria’s tax net and increasing the efficiency of the tax administration.
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo is billed to meet with his US counterpart, Kamala Harris among other important players.