By GRACE ALEGBA

The Federal Government on Tuesday reiterated its commitment to strengthening international collaboration, improving investment facilitation and promoting governance transparency to enhance Nigeria’s global standing.

The Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Mrs Bianca Udumegwu-Ojukwu, disclosed this in a goodwill message at a webinar hosted by Fidelity Bank Plc.

The theme of the webinar is “Digital Fiscal Transparency: Unlocking Sub-national Opportunities for International Partners”.

Udumegwu-Ojukwu, represented by Mr Abdulqadir Olanrewaju, Department of Economic, Trade and Investment of the ministry, said the initiatives align with President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, aimed at attracting foreign investment and improving public sector accountability.

She noted that Nigeria remained actively engaged with global and regional bodies, including the United Nations, African Union and ECOWAS, to promote peace, trade and development.

She added that participation in the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and commitment to the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) were intended to align trade policies with global standards and boost intra-African trade.

On investment facilitation, she highlighted reforms by the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC) and the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC), which had simplified business registration, licensing and regulatory processes.

She also cited public-private partnerships for infrastructure and bilateral investment treaties as measures to protect foreign investments.

According to her, the reforms have led to faster business registration, increased digitisation of government services and improved tax and regulatory frameworks.

On governance transparency, Udumegwu-Ojukwu said the government had strengthened accountability through policy reforms and support for anti-corruption agencies such as the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC).

She added that initiatives like the Treasury Single Account (TSA) had improved access to financial data and enhanced transparency in public finance management.

The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Fidelity Bank Plc, Dr Nneka Onyeali-Ikpe, called for stronger collaboration among governments, financial institutions and international partners to deepen fiscal transparency at the sub-national level.

She said building trust through secure, technology-driven financial systems is critical to attracting domestic and foreign investments.

She noted that the bank supports public sector financing through compliant digital platforms that enhance transparency, streamline collections and facilitate foreign currency transactions.

Delivering a keynote, Mr Akpotor Justice, Assistant Director, Investment Promotion Department, Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, said effective sub-national trade policies are key to inclusive growth and investment.

He explained that investors are influenced by conditions at state and local levels, including infrastructure, regulatory efficiency and market viability.

Justice identified ease of doing business reforms, infrastructure development, policy consistency and leveraging comparative advantages across sectors as key drivers of sub-national growth.

He cited Kaduna State as an example where reforms in land administration, infrastructure and business processes have improved competitiveness.

On trade facilitation, he stressed the need to remove internal barriers, improve logistics systems and support small and medium enterprises (SMEs) with finance and market access.

He added that fiscal sustainability should focus on expanding the economic base, formalising businesses and leveraging public-private partnerships to fund infrastructure.

He said strengthening sub-national economies would enhance Nigeria’s competitiveness and position states as engines of growth. (NAN)

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