President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has presented Nigeria as an emerging economic powerhouse, assuring global investors of his administration’s commitment to fiscal discipline, transparency, and sustained economic growth.
Speaking at a high-level meeting with international investors in Paris, the President highlighted ongoing economic reforms and emphasized the need for policy stability and accountability in driving long-term development.
During the engagement, Taiwo Oyedele, Coordinating Minister of the Economy, disclosed that Nigeria recorded an 11.2 percent growth in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in dollar terms in 2025. He noted that the performance supports the country’s ambition of achieving a $1 trillion economy by 2030.
Oyedele added that translating reforms into tangible benefits for citizens remains a key short-term priority, while assuring investors that the government would begin publishing financial data on a quarterly basis to enhance transparency.
Also speaking, Patience Oniha, Director General of the Debt Management Office, reassured stakeholders of the government’s commitment to sustainable debt management and prudent financing strategies.
The meeting brought together major global investment firms, including Amundi led by Valerie Baudson, Citibank, as well as BlueCrest, Prudential Global Investment Management, Mesarete Capital, Kirkoswald Capital, Principal Finisterre, and Ninety One.
President Tinubu explained that his administration’s reform agenda is focused on eliminating economic distortions, stabilising macroeconomic indicators, and fostering inclusive growth. He also pledged to deepen transparency in the oil sector and implement comprehensive security strategies, including police decentralisation and efforts to curb terrorist financing.
“The focus remains on policy stability and diligent execution to ensure these strategic shifts translate into concrete benefits for all Nigerians,” the President stated.
Some investors at the meeting expressed optimism about Nigeria’s economic outlook, commending the government’s reform efforts.
Responding to a question on post-2027 plans, Tinubu assured stakeholders of continuity in economic policies, with sustained emphasis on fiscal discipline and transparency.
BY NKECHI NAECHE-ESEZOBOR—The Founder and Executive Chairman of Baywood Holdings Limited, Emperor Chris Baywood Ibe, has praised the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) for encouraging innovation and digital growth within the country’s financial services sector.
Speaking in Lagos, the Baywood founder, noted that the regulator’s forward-thinking approach recognizes digital ecosystems as the primary pathway to deepening insurance penetration and expanding access across Nigeria.
The commendation follows the recent deployment of an operational web aggregator license granted by NAICOM to CBI Partnering Insurtech Limited, a subsidiary of Baywood Holdings.
According to Ibe, this regulatory approval directly aligns with the Federal Government’s newly assented insurance policy, which is aimed at driving comprehensive financial inclusion through digital transformation.
He revealed that the company invested over a year into building a robust technological infrastructure before securing final regulatory approval.
Ibe stated that while the licensing process was stringent to acquire, it served as the final piece of the puzzle for the firm.
He emphasized that long before receiving the official nod, the company had invested heavily in building the technology and preparing for scale, operating on the principle that operational readiness must always precede market recognition.
Operating strictly as a technology-driven marketplace rather than a traditional insurance underwriter, CBI Partnering Insurtech plans to leverage its web aggregator status to bridge the gap between conventional insurance providers and the uninsured public.
The highly scalable platform is web-based, app-driven, and API-ready, specifically engineered to integrate insurers, Health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs), corporate entities, SMEs, and individual retail consumers into a single, unified digital ecosystem.
BY NKECHI NAECHE-ESEZOBOR—Buying and managing insurance policies in Nigeria is about to get as simple as sending a text message, thanks to a new digital initiative aimed at putting complete insurance coverage directly onto smartphones.
CBI Partnering Insurtech Limited, a newly licensed web aggregator and subsidiary of Baywood Holdings Limited, has unveiled an app-driven, web-based marketplace built to dismantle the traditional bottlenecks of the local insurance sector.
Speaking at a media briefing, Executive Chairman Emperor Chris Baywood Ibe explained that the platform was designed with the modern mobile consumer in mind, ensuring that insurance is easy to discover, purchase, and manage from anywhere.
“Whether you are at home, in the office, or traveling across the country, insurance should be entirely accessible via your mobile devices,” Ibe stated.
“For decades, adoption in Nigeria has been constrained not by an absence of products, but by accessibility, complexity, and a lack of customer confidence. We are changing that by bringing the entire ecosystem onto a single digital interface.”
To achieve this, the company is deploying an ecosystem powered by generative AI, advanced algorithms, and interactive chatbots. While clarifying that CBI Partnering Insurtech is a technology marketplace rather than an insurance underwriter, Ibe emphasized that the platform will handle everything from policy creation to seamless claims support right on a user’s phone.
The move comes at a critical time for the industry. With a newly assented Federal Government policy driving digital financial inclusion, Ibe issued a strong warning to legacy underwriters still operating on paper-heavy, offline business models, stating that companies must innovate or face corporate extinction within the next five years.
To ensure consumers have immediate access to a wide variety of mobile-ready products, CBI Partnering Insurtech announced it will provide technical “hand-holding” to traditional insurance companies and Health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs).
The tech firm plans to build custom Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) for operators lagging behind digitally, allowing them to connect directly to the mobile platform.
This collaborative framework aims to give retail consumers, micro-businesses, and corporate organizations instant, transparent access to insurance protection at the swipe of a finger