Director General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has urged President Bola Tinubu to introduce robust social safety nets to cushion the hardship being experienced by poor Nigerians as a result of ongoing economic reforms.
Speaking to State House correspondents on Thursday after meeting with the president at the Aso Villa, Abuja, the former Nigerian finance minister commended Tinubu for reforms such as the removal of petrol subsidy and the unification of foreign exchange rates, which she said had stabilised the economy.
“We think that the President and his team have worked hard to stabilise the economy. You cannot really improve an economy unless it is stable. So, he has to be given credit for that. The reforms have been in the right direction,” Okonjo-Iweala stated. “What is needed next is growth, and we need to put in social safety nets so that people feeling the pinch of the reforms can have support to weather the hardship. That’s the next step.”
Her meeting with Tinubu comes two weeks before the end of her first term as WTO chief on August 31, 2025, and the start of her second term on September 1, 2025. She made history in 2021 as the first African and first woman to lead the global trade body.
Okonjo-Iweala, accompanied by Nigeria’s Trade Minister, Jumoke Oduwole, also briefed the president on the launch of the Women’s Exporters’ Fund for the digital economy, an initiative of the WTO and International Trade Centre to empower women entrepreneurs.
She revealed that Nigeria was one of only four countries selected for the programme, with 67,000 women applying and 146 winners set to receive direct financial support. Sixteen winners will get technical and business assistance for 18 months under the “Booster Track” scheme, while another 100 will receive $5,000 each to start or strengthen their businesses.
“This is part of the thinking of social safety nets and what we can do to support Nigerian women to contribute more to the economy and to themselves,” she added.
