Nigeria’s economy making progress despite reform pains, says Tinubu

President Bola Tinubu on Wednesday said Nigeria’s economy was making serious foundational progress despite the difficulty of the reforms his administration had pursued over three years.

Tinubu also received commendations from the leadership of Deloitte Africa for the financial and fiscal reforms his administration has pursued over three years.

Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, revealed this in a statement he signed Wednesday titled ‘Our Economy Is On Steady Growth, Says President Tinubu To Deloitte Africa.’

Tinubu gave the assurance when he received a delegation from Deloitte Africa, led by its Chief Executive Officer for Africa, Ruwayda Redfearn, at the State House, Abuja.

The meeting was also attended by the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, and the Chairman of the Nigerian Revenue Service, Zacch Adedeji.

The President defended the pace and direction of the reforms while acknowledging their difficulty.

He said, “Yes, reforms are difficult. It has not been a McDonald’s customer relationship but a harvester of good things, if implemented well, and that is what we are about.

“The reforms on revenue will continue to stimulate growth. And the effect of the reform? Yes, some issues are difficult, taking the bitter medicine, but it is working well.

“For the economy, Nigeria is making serious foundational progress.”

Tinubu argued that his reforms had stimulated the economy, strengthened the fiscal and revenue sectors, repositioned financial institutions and prepared the country to be more globally relevant and competitive.

He also drew on his own professional history with the firm, describing his formative years in accountancy as connected to the Deloitte tradition.

“The family of Deloitte, you just reminded me of my cradle years in accountancy and where I cut my childhood accounting teeth in Chicago.

“Deloitte has a good training programme, and I believe you will continue to reflect that,” he said.

The President urged the firm to deepen its impact in Nigeria by actively training and recruiting from the country’s large youth population, framing the request as an opportunity for Deloitte to invest in the human capital pipeline that would sustain Nigeria’s long-term competitiveness.

Redfearn said the firm, which employs over 500,000 people globally including more than 6,000 across Africa and recorded revenue of $74bn in 2025, was ready to commit its full capabilities to supporting the administration.

“We are before you to say that we want to serve. We have a local team on the ground that is ready, as well as the global firm, to support you and support your administration as you lead the country,” she said.

The Chief Executive Officer of Deloitte West Africa, Yomi Olugbenro, said the firm believed the groundwork laid by the administration’s reforms was solid but that the more urgent task was now translating those gains into tangible outcomes for ordinary Nigerians.

“We do what we do because of the philosophy that our Africa CEOs talk about, making an impact that matters.

“Where we are at the moment, we believe that the ground has been solidly laid. There is a need to truly extract more value and deliver the dividends of democracy to ordinary Nigerians on the street.

“The bigger work is really about how to cascade some of those big reforms further down,” he said.

He assured the President of the firm’s readiness to draw on its global experience of supporting national economic transformations.

Olugbenro said, “We have use cases, examples, experiences of how we supported nations all around the world, so Nigeria will definitely benefit from those experiences.

“That is why we are here, and we welcome the invitation as to where exactly you want us to support you.”

Oyedele, who spoke on the administration’s reform record and its macroeconomic impact, echoed the President’s call by urging Deloitte’s leadership to prioritise youth capacity building as the most consequential investment the firm could make in Nigeria’s future.