Nigeria is becoming an exciting place for investment, Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) CEO, Bayo Ogunlesi, said after meeting with President Bola Tinubu.

Ogunlesi told the press that he had “an excellent meeting” with the President.

He said they talked about many “fundamental transformations” that have happened in Nigeria over the last two years.

These include removing fuel subsidies, tax reforms, a refinery that is now working and exporting aviation fuel, and the unification of the road ownership system.

He said the next step is to encourage more international investment to help grow Nigeria’s economy.

Ogunlesi said: “The next step is, how do we encourage international investment in Nigeria to drive economic growth? And I had a wonderful meeting with Mr President, talking about exchanging ideas about how we can do that, how we can put Nigeria front and centre on the map for international investments. And we had some very good suggestions and discussions about that.”

When asked about the sectors GIP is interested in, Ogunlesi said energy is one area. He explained: “We invest in energy. We’re building LNG plants in Texas and Australia. There’s gas in Nigeria. Nigeria is a huge gas province.”

He also said aviation and ports are areas of interest. “People described me as a guy who bought Gatwick Airport. I didn’t personally buy Gatwick Airport, but the aviation sector is also an area of interest to us,” he said.

Ogunlesi added that GIP has ports in nearby countries like Cotonou and Lomé, but none yet in Nigeria.

“I asked for his forgiveness and understanding. He forgave me but said, you have to bring port investment to Nigeria. So that’s another area we’re looking at,” he said.