Nigeria’s Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Senator Abubakar Bagudu, has called for the nation to attract significantly more resources to support its development objectives. Speaking at the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) management retreat in Abuja, Senator Bagudu emphasised that Nigeria must build a robust financial system grounded in integrity to achieve this.
Addressing the nation’s ambitious Agenda 2050, he stated, “Our Agenda 2050, a statement of our national aspiration, requires that we invest at least 100 billion dollars annually to achieve a GDP per capita of $33,000 or more by 2050. We are nowhere near that.”
The minister acknowledged that the current level of financing falls short but noted that President Bola Tinubu’s administration has implemented bold and courageous economic reforms aimed at increasing revenue. Despite these efforts, Senator Bagudu expressed concern that the country still lags behind the necessary financial flows.
To illustrate the scale of the challenge, he compared Nigeria’s federal budget of $20 billion to those of similarly populated countries such as Brazil and Indonesia, which have budgets of $750 billion and $210 billion, respectively.
Senator Bagudu noted the importance of a sound financial system in attracting both domestic and foreign investments to fund Nigeria’s development plans. He explained that the strategy involves leveraging private sector and capital market funding, which necessitates confidence, integrity, and stability in the financial system.
The minister also praised the work of the NFIU, while urging better communication of its activities to ensure public recognition. “Our credit rating should improve. We have taken measures similar to those in countries that have achieved significant increases in credit ratings. We have established and committed institutions, particularly the NFIU, and should benefit from them.”