Global economic shifts offer Nigeria, Africa path to growth — Okonjo-Iweala, Cardoso

The Director-General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, and the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Olayemi Cardoso, have said the changing global economic landscape offers Nigeria and other African countries an opportunity to accelerate industrialisation, expand trade and strengthen their economies.

Speaking at the Seventh Africa Emerging Market Forum in Abuja on Wednesday, the two economic leaders said geopolitical tensions, shifting trade patterns, technological innovation and changing investment flows are reshaping the global economy, creating fresh opportunities for Africa to reposition itself.

Okonjo-Iweala said the international economic order established after the Second World War is undergoing its biggest transformation in decades but rejected suggestions that globalisation is coming to an end.

“What we are seeing is not the end of globalisation but its transformation from cooperative to competitive interdependence. States compete vigorously but within a global economic system they cannot afford to abandon,” she said.

According to her, multinational companies are diversifying their supply chains, presenting African countries with an opportunity to attract manufacturing and industrial investments.

“If we can get our house in order, we are capable of attracting these supply chains. It will not fall on our lap,” she said.

The WTO chief urged African governments to move beyond exporting raw materials by developing regional value chains capable of processing critical minerals into higher-value products.

“For Africa in particular, instead of the extract-and-export model, the goal should be higher value, higher productivity growth driven by the development of sub-regional value chains,” she said.