Nigerian President Bola Tinubu kicked off an official visit to the UK seeking closer trade ties to strengthen his country’s economy, hit by the war in Iran and facing the threat of US tariffs.
Since becoming president in 2023, Tinubu has overseen a remarkable turnaround of Africa’s fourth-biggest economy: Annual inflation has cooled to around 15% from a peak of almost 35%, while government coffers have been boosted by the cut of a costly fuel subsidy.
However, tariff threats from the US — Nigeria’s third-largest export market — and inflationary pressures caused by the war in Iran risk hindering that progress. “At a time like this, everybody would be cautious about the impact of the existing situation,” the governor of Nigeria’s central bank said.
