World Trade Organisation (WTO) Director-General, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has commended President Bola Tinubu’s economic reforms, describing them as steps in the right direction for stabilising Nigeria’s economy.
Speaking to State House correspondents after a courtesy visit to the President on Thursday, Okonjo-Iweala said their discussions focused on the newly launched Women Exporters Fund for the Digital Economy—an initiative jointly managed by the WTO and the International Trade Centre to support Nigerian women entrepreneurs.
She revealed that Nigeria was one of only four countries selected globally for the programme, with 67,000 women applying and 146 beneficiaries chosen. Sixteen will receive technical and business support for 18 months, while 100 others will each get $5,000 to scale or start businesses, along with 12 months of guidance.
On economic matters, Okonjo-Iweala credited Tinubu’s administration for achieving stability, noting that growth and stronger social safety nets must now follow. “You cannot really improve an economy unless it’s stable… The next step is to grow the economy and build social protection systems to cushion the hardship from reforms,” she said.
She emphasised that combining stability with targeted growth policies and robust safety nets would be vital to job creation, poverty reduction, and long-term prosperity.
