President Bola Tinubu has stated that the economic reforms introduced by his administration had steadily stabilised the economy over the past three years, earning growing recognition for positive growth indicators.
The President stated this on Wednesday while receiving a delegation from Deloitte Africa, led by the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Ruwayda Redfearn, at the State House, Abuja.
The visitors commended the administration for the ongoing financial and fiscal reforms in the country and were encouraged to pursue a stronger partnership that supports investments, youth training, and employment.
“We are following the example of Deloitte’s greatness to change things from the foundation, building the necessary future for our people,” Tinubu said.
He described the reform process as a difficult but necessary path to genuine progress. “Yes, reforms are difficult. It has not been a McDonald’s customer relationship but a harvester of good things, if implemented well, and that is what we are about,” he said, thanking Deloitte for its attention to Nigeria’s fiscal, revenue and tax reforms.
“The reforms on revenue will continue to stimulate growth. And the effect of the reform? Yes, some issues are difficult to take with the bitter medicine, but it is working well. For the economy, Nigeria is making serious foundational progress,’’ the President added.
According to a statement by the Special Adviser to the President on Information & Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, the meeting was also attended by the Minister of Finance, Taiwo Oyedele and the Chairman of the Nigerian Revenue Service, Zacch Adedeji.
Tinubu said the reforms had stimulated the economy, strengthened the fiscal and revenue sectors, repositioned financial institutions, and prepared the country to be more globally relevant and competitive. He urged Deloitte Africa to deepen its impact on the Nigerian economy by training and recruiting the dynamic youth population.
“The family of Deloitte; you just reminded me of my cradle years in accountancy and where I cut my childhood accounting teeth in Chicago. Deloitte has a good training programme, and I believe you will continue to reflect that,’’ he said.
Also speaking on the reforms and their impact, the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, urged the leadership of the accounting and business firm to focus on building capacity among the youth.
The CEO of Deloitte Africa, Ruwayda Redfearn, said the global organisation is primarily focused on digital and business transformation, with over 500,000 employees worldwide working across various roles and locations, including over 6,000 in Africa.
She said the accountancy firm’s revenue was $74 billion in 2025.
“We are before you to say that we want to serve. We have a local team on the ground that is ready, as well as the global firm, to support you and support your administration as you lead the country,’’ she said.
The Chief Executive Officer of Deloitte West Africa, Yomi Olugbenro, assured the President of the firm’s support for the reforms.
“We do what we do because of the philosophy that our Africa CEOs talk about – making an impact that matters. Where we are at the moment, we believe that the ground has been solidly laid. There is a need to truly extract more value and deliver the dividends of democracy to ordinary Nigerians on the street. The bigger work is really about how to cascade some of those big reforms further down.
“We do believe that with the capabilities that the firm has all over the world, with the half a million people that our CEO spoke about, we have used cases, examples, experiences of how we supported nations all around the world, so Nigeria will definitely benefit from those experiences.
“So that is why we are here, and we welcome the invitation that you may grant us as to where exactly you want us to support you,’’ he added.
