WAES 2025: Minister Tuggar Advocates for Economic Transformation
Oru Leonard
Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Yusuf Maitama Tuggar, has emphasized the need for West Africa to reset its economic vision and leverage its vast resources to drive growth and development. Speaking at the opening of the West Africa Economic Summit (WAES), 2025 in Abuja, Tuggar highlighted the region’s potential and the importance of collaboration among member states to achieve economic transformation.
Tuggar stressed that the summit’s purpose is to reset the vision for the economic future of the West Africa region, focusing on building a better future through shared histories and proud traditions.
He noted that West Africa has the scale, talent, and critical mass to leverage profound changes shaping the region’s future, particularly in technology, processing, and data.
The Minister also emphasized the need for local processing and manufacturing to turn mineral wealth into domestic economic value, citing Nigeria’s and the region’s possession of rare minerals vital to new industries.
The Nigerian Minister said the role of the private sector in driving transformation, stating that governments should provide an enabling environment while the private sector drives growth.
Tuggar lamented that only 8.6% of West Africa’s $166 billion exports in 2024 remained within the region, highlighting the need to boost intra-regional trade.
He noted that the informal sector often bypasses borders and regulations due to bureaucratic inefficiencies, emphasizing the need to bring these activities into the formal sector.
He called for investment in transport and other economic infrastructure to support prosperity growth.
Tuggar emphasized the importance of collaboration between governments, industry, and stakeholders to achieve economic transformation.
“Summit participants should commit to clear deliverables, including enhanced intra-regional trade, improved infrastructure connectivity, and innovative ideas to move people from poverty to prosperity”, the hosting Ministers advised, adding that regional integration is essential for developing indigenous industries, strengthening trade, and achieving collective self-reliance.
