As Oyedele presents Nigeria’s economic transformation agenda

Director and Head of Secretariat of the Intergovernmental Group of Twenty-Four (G24), Dr Iyabo Masha, has informed global investors that the next phase of global economic expansion will depend substantially on how developing economies attract long-term capital, improve productivity and harness innovation,

Masha delivered the message at the just-concluded ninth Annual Foreign Investment Network (FIN) Banking on Emerging Markets Forum and Awards in Bangkok, Thailand, held alongside the 2026 IMF–World Bank Annual Meetings, where policymakers, finance officials, investors and business executives gathered to examine investment opportunities and the changing dynamics of the global economy.

In a direct challenge to conventional perceptions of developing economies, Masha said: “Emerging markets are not peripheral to the future of the global economy. They are central to it.”

Rather than treating emerging economies merely as destinations for development assistance or recipients of foreign capital, Masha urged the investment community to recognise their growing significance as potential drivers of economic expansion, technological progress and employment.

It is important to note that Masha’s intervention placed the financing needs of developing countries within the broader debate over the sustainability of global growth, particularly as investment, innovation and improvements in productive capacity become increasingly important to economic performance.

The G-24 Director also argued that the coming decade would be decisive in determining whether emerging markets could convert their economic potential into sustained growth and wider prosperity.

Masha therefore challenged investors to look beyond short-term considerations and evaluate the long-term commercial opportunities available across developing economies.

But Masha’s position also placed responsibility on emerging economies themselves, saying that governments must establish sound domestic policy frameworks capable of directing investment towards competitive businesses, productive enterprises and activities that generate decent jobs.

Meanwhile, Nigeria’s investment priorities also featured in the Bangkok discussions through the contribution of the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Professor Taiwo Oyedele.

Oyedele, who was represented at the forum by a senior public servant and Director at the Federal Ministry of Finance in Nigeria, Mrs Chinonyelum Ndidi, delivered a presentation on Nigeria’s economic transformation agenda to the international conversation on investment and cross-border business cooperation.

The engagement highlighted Nigeria’s interest in strengthening commercial relationships with Asian economies and the wider international business community.

Oyedele also disclosed that for Nigeria, Africa’s largest economy by population, attracting productive and long-term investment remained closely connected to its ambitions to reinforce fiscal stability, improve competitiveness, expand private-sector activity and create an environment in which businesses can grow.