Muhammadu BuhariPresident of Nigeria
Africa’s most-populous country and largest economy is ready for a rebound. With its huge youth population and powerhouse oil and gas industry, Nigeria has dominated the continent’s economic growth story for decades. The Covid-19 pandemic exacerbated an ongoing oil slump, and Nigeria’s economy was not immune to the global malaise that struck last year. But economic rebound is forecast in 2021, as global oil demand recovers and the country moves forward on a host of ambitious reforms aimed at attracting new investment in key non-oil sectors.
President Muhammad Buhari is playing a critical role in maintaining stability and supporting the country’s spring-boarding from natural resource giant to diversifi ed export base. Elected in 2015, Buhari has sought to promote Nigeria as the investment destination of choice since his earliest days in power, through a multi-pronged strategy that has focused on supportive policymaking and motivated ministers. Non-oil diversifi cation is key, he explained to guests at a Nigeria-China business form event in 2016: