Letter from Nigeria: New leader delivers shock therapy
President Tinubu has already targeted major reforms at the country’s dysfunctional downstream and upstream sectors, as well as overhauling monetary policy
Nigerians had low expectations of their new president, Bola Tinubu, who was elected with a record-low 36.61% of the vote in February. As co-founder of the All Progressives Congress party, which brought his predecessor Muhammadu Buhari to power in 2015, Tinubu was regarded as a continuity candidate, unlikely to deliver much-needed reform after eight years of sclerotic Buhari rule. However, Tinubu has made an immediate impact on Nigeria’s political economy, breaking the inertia that characterised Buhari’s tenure and upending the entire petroleum sector—starting with the downstream. Subsidy elimination Tinubu used his inauguration speech in May to end a nearly 50-year-old fuel subsidy. This had
Also in this section
17 May 2024
The latest drought crisis is passing, but longer-term solutions are in motion, explains Panama Canal Authority Administrator Ricaurte Vasquez Morales
16 May 2024
Flat oil growth in 2024 highlights mounting industry problems
15 May 2024
Five years ago, Uzbekistan turned to a private company called Saneg to reverse the fortunes of its oil industry. Results so far are encouraging, and according to CEO Tulkin Yusupov, further progress is on the way
13 May 2024
But optimism about island nation checked by competition around African upstream investment and history of false dawns