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President Bola Tinubu has been lauded for the scrapping of multiple foreign exchange rates and the introduction of a unified, single exchange rate in the country.
The Tinubu administration is also commended for its commitment to pulling Nigerians from poverty and for leveraging digital infrastructure for the benefit of its citizens.
The Chairman of Bharti Airtel Worldwide, Sunil Bharti Mittal, said this while speaking with State House correspondents after meeting with President Tinubu at the Presidential Villa on Monday.
Mittal was accompanied to the Villa by other senior officials of the company, including the CEO of Airtel Africa Ltd, Mr Segun Ogunsanya.
“I also saw the President’s deep commitment to removing poverty. I come from a country, India, where we also have decades of poverty, which has been rapidly minimized and eradicated in some parts, through intervention of massive infrastructure investment, massive digital ecosystem creation and using the digital infrastructure to provide services by the government to its citizens.
“Be it direct benefit transfer in the form of cash in the hands of people, biometric-based banking transactions, biometric-based health services,” he said.
Persecondnews recalls that on May 29,Tinubu had in his inauguration address indicated that he will eliminate multiple exchange rates and replace it with a unified exchange rate.
Mittal described Tinubu’s quick presidential declarations to address the lack of easy access to foreign exchange, as a wish come true for investors.
The long-standing issue has been a challenge for foreign investors and the single forex window will now unleash foreign investments on the country, the Airtel boss said.
Lack of easy access to foreign exchange, Mittal said had prevented the company from importing critical equipment needed for its operation in the country.
“One of the key changes that His Excellency, the President has made in the first few days of his tenure has been making Naira free float unto the market, letting the market decide as opposed to CBN’s four or five exchange rates which were very difficult to navigate for companies like us and many others.
“As you have all seen, the Naira has been devalued, but the worldwide markets have given standing ovations to this move and the dollar bonds have strengthened in Nigeria.
“Generally, there is excitement in investing and companies who are going to be coming to put their bases here in Nigeria,” he said, adding that Airtel had invested almost $4 billion in Nigeria in the last 10 years.
On the rolling out of 5G in the country, Mittal announced that Airtel had projected that its annual investment would go up to about $700 million annually in the next three to four years.
He said:”On top of that to roll out the 5G and more fiber into the ground and data centres, will require more $700 million to get to that outcome. So while there is no exact number I can give you, but all I can tell you is $400 million is what we generally invest every year.
“With 5G, the investment is only going to go up for the next two or three years before it comes back to the same $350, $450 million a year and we have invested just under $4 billion since the time we have come into Nigeria.
“We are already investing about $400 million a year, which has been going on for the last many years, of course that will continue, that is business as usual.”
“During the COVID time, India, as you know, through the biometric, could ensure that every citizen of the country was inoculated and vaccinated and these things that the technology can offer and more, are now fully on display in India and available to its friendly countries in Africa, like Nigeria,” he added.
On the forthcoming G-20 Summit in India, Mittal said recommendations that would enhance trade among African countries using local currencies will be presented at the conference.
