The World Trade Organization (WTO) will support Nigeria’s digital trade growth, Director General Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said yesterday.
She said women will also receive more support.
The former Minister of Finance spoke after a meeting with President Bola Tinubu in Abuja.
Dr Okonjo-Iweala was accompanied by a minister-designate Dr Ali Pate.
She said,
“We all know that things are very difficult for Nigerians. Everyone is struggling. I’m here myself on a quiet visit, not really an official WTO mission.
“We had a really good conversation on community and grassroots programmes that can be put in place to create jobs for young people and support women and children who are bearing the brunt of some of the suffering in the country.
“For the longer term, we spoke about investment opportunities that Nigeria can cease, including in the pharmaceutical industry.
“We also talked about what type of support the WTO can bring.
“We’re already working in Nigeria with women in particular, who own small and medium enterprises to try to help them upgrade the quality of their products, whether it’s in the agricultural area, in textiles and in other areas so that they can sell more internationally.
“We’re trying to help them with digital trade. The wave of the future is digital trade. So, how do we train and empower Nigerian women and owners of small and medium enterprises support so they can trade more and create more jobs?
“That’s what’s needed now, helping Nigerians to alleviate the difficult conditions that they are in.”
Also yesterday, former Minister of State for Petroleum Resources Timipre Sylva yesterday praised President Tinubu for his economic reforms.
He said Nigeria was now on the path of a turnaround with a President who understands the economy.
He spoke with reporters after visiting President Tinubu at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.
Sylva, who is the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the November governorship poll in Bayelsa State, said he was particularly impressed that the President was courageous enough to end fuel subsidy.
“For Mr. President to have achieved this feat on the first day of his Presidency is quite commendable. We’ve seen a lot happening in the monetary policy sector.
“It’s unprecedented. I believe that we’re on the verge of an economic turnaround,” he said.