Wale Edun: Nigeria appointed to lead World Bank’s African governors’ forum

Wale Edun, the minister of finance and coordinating minister for the economy, says Nigeria has been appointed to chair the African Governors’ Forum of the World Bank.

Edun said this would create an opportunity to unite the African continent, the finance ministers of Africa, the economic leaders and representatives of governments.

The minister spoke on Tuesday after a meeting held on the sidelines of the ongoing 2023 World Bank/International Monetary Fund (IMF) annual meetings in Marrakech, Morocco.

He asked African leaders to unite behind the argument for a fair and just energy transition.

“Nigeria has the opportunity now as the chairman of the African Governors’ Forum to unite the continent to enable African countries speak with one voice and get a better deal for Africa,” Edun said.

WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT WORLD BANK’S AFRICAN GOVERNORS’ FORUM

The African Governors’ Forum of the World Bank and IMF is made up of the continent’s finance ministers and central bank governors.

According to IMF’s guiding principles for the caucus, the chairman of the forum is based on rotation which is also based on the alphabetical order of African countries.

This, the lender said, allows the representative of each country to head the group until the rotation ends and prevents one country from heading the forum twice while other nations are yet to head the caucus.

But the guiding principles of the forum said “…there will be flexibility in the order of rotation to accommodate countries on the rotation table willing to swap the order of rotation to provide for any prevailing exigencies.”

This means that a country may decide to allow another nation to lead the group when the need arises.

TheCable check shows that Nigeria’s turn to chair the forum is in 2026 based on the rotation system, with Cape Verde scheduled for 2024 and Eritea slated for 2025.

However, Edun said Africa’s biggest economy has been “appointed” to chair the group.

Going by his words, this is the first time Nigeria will be heading the African Governors’ Forum of the World Bank according to the rotation. The last country to chair the group is Morocco in 2023.

The forum allows African countries to have a united front and push their individual and common interests during the annual meetings of the IMF and World Bank.

The tenure of the chairman is one year, according to the guiding principle, but it can be extended depending on the consensus of the group. Prior to 2013, the tenure was two years.

NIGERIA NEXT DESTINATION FOR INVESTORS AFTER CHINA

Further addressing journalists after the meeting Edun said Nigeria is the third largest economy investors are interested in — falling behind China and India.

He told the press that his presence at Marrakech is to know the sentiments of investors about Nigeria and that the country needs to be ready for investments from new and existing investors.

Edun said the foreign direct investment (FDI) could be channelled into sectors like agriculture, manufacturing, industry, solid minerals and import substitution – which are areas of interest for investors. 

“Our wish is to grow the Nigerian economy, reduce poverty, and make life better for all Nigerians. That is the determination of President Bola Tinubu and members of his administration,” Edun said.  

The minister said the administration is making tough decisions to lay the groundwork to entertain investments.