Nigerians await rewards from Tinubu’s reforms

Bola Tinubu’s policies as Nigerian president have drawn praise from investors, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. For households facing a cost-of-living crisis, the picture isn’t so rosy.

Tough-love economic reforms — including the end to a costly fuel subsidy on his first day in office two years ago this week — are indeed beginning to yield results.

Tax collection has improved, a more transparent foreign-exchange system has almost eliminated the gap between the official and street rates, and the naira is relatively stable.

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Oil production has improved and multinational companies — energized by policies to boost the sector — have trumpeted new deepwater investments. Local firms are getting involved too, taking over onshore assets in the Niger Delta with plans to tap long-abandoned wells.
Inflationary deficit funding from the central bank has been ditched, and restrictions that propped up the currency’s value removed. There’s an immiment overhaul of a revenue system that still has laws from the colonial era, while the hemorrhage of big companies due to dollar scarcity appears to have eased.

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Also, the biggest crude producer on the continent has lost the unwanted title of Africa’s largest fuel importer — thanks to Aliko Dangote’s mega-refinery coming on stream.

The benefits, though, are yet to filter down to the nation’s 230 million citizens.
They haven’t seen savings from scrapping the fuel subsidy, a threefold increase in electricity tariffs for some hasn’t improved supply, while millions of young Nigerians still can’t find work.

On security, the government is struggling to solve farmer-herder clashes in its main food-growing region and Islamist extremists in the northeast seem to be making a disturbing comeback.

Still, the nod from his party to be its presidential candidate in 2027 and praise from investors may convince Tinubu he’s on the right track.

He’ll want that to become clearer for households as the second half of his term kicks off.