World Bank President, Ajay Banga, begins a three-day working visit to Nigeria today, an event that is being interpreted as the beginning of a new era in the relationship between the institution and the country.

Banga, who assumed office on June 2, will be in Nigeria as part of his global tour. He will arrive from Ethiopia where he spent two days.

From searches, the visit is the first since April 2016 when the ex-president, Dr. Jim Yong, was in the country for three days for a similar visit.

Yong was hosted by the immediate former president, Muhammadu Buhari, who had spent less than a year in office then.

In his tenure, Nigeria and the World Bank, alongside the International Monetary Fund (IMF), disagreed sharply on some of the country’s economic policies.

For instance, the institutions repeatedly kicked against fuel subsidy payment, excessive ways and means (W&M) financing, Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) development funding and other policies that were considered anti-market.

On several occasions, they called on the apex bank to de-peg the foreign exchange market as a necessary option for liberalising the market.

But Nigerian authority pushed back and told the advisory bodies that the policy thrusts were created to address the peculiar challenges the country faced.

During his famous interview with Bloomberg last year, Buhari defended the suspended CBN governor, Godwin Emefiele, and told the World Bank and allies that the chief regulator was implementing an “alternative economic model” that served the peculiar needs of the country.

Since he assumed office, President Bola Tinubu has aligned with the free market economic ideology of the Bretton Woods institutions. First, he removed the controversial fuel subsidy, leading to about 200 per cent increase in the pump price of premium motor spirit.

Tinubu also suspended Emefiele and subsequently appointed a special investigator for the apex bank he supervised. A few days after Emefiele was suspended, the acting governor of the bank, Folashodun Shonubi, announced the liberalisation of the FX market – a long-standing policy advocacy of the World Bank and IMF – and a policy direction Tinubu hinted at his inauguration.

Banga’s predecessor, David Malpass, swiftly commended Tinubu for embracing a pro-market philosophy as represented by fuel subsidy removal and naira floating. Sharing a Financial Times story on Twitter, Malpass described the fuel subsidy regime and dual exchange rate as harmful to the Nigerian economy.

“Glad to see @officialABAT taking concrete steps to scrap Nigeria’s harmful government subsidies and multiple exchange rates,” Malpass tweeted, adding: “These are important steps toward currency stability, lower inflation and reduced corruption in Africa’s most populous country.”

Banga’s coming is seen as a consolidation visit, coming after years of a somewhat frosty relationship. The World Bank chief will visit Tinubu and Vice President Kashim Shettima during his stay, a statement shared by the World Bank said.

“This is the next step of a global tour that is at the center of a mission to write a new playbook for the 78-year-old institution. Banga will focus his time in Nigeria on identifying opportunities to create jobs for young people and women, addressing energy needs and renewable energy, and further exploring the potential for digitisation.

“As part of these efforts, he will visit a World Bank-financed mini-grid power plant that is providing solar energy to an entire community, and a woman-owned business that has generated more than 1,500 service-sector jobs for young Nigerians,” the statement said.

The bank is also scheduled to convene discussions with representatives from the private sector and civil society.

Banga, the first Indian to occupy the influential position, will be joined by his wife, Ritu Banga. The African visit follows earlier tours in Peru, Jamaica, and India.