Nigeria needs $100bn annual investment to hit Agenda 2050 target — Bagudu

Atiku Bagudu, minister of budget and national planning, says Nigeria must attract at least $100 billion in investments every year to meet its goal of becoming a middle-income country by 2050.

He noted this on Tuesday at a one-day policy dialogue on “Deepening Legislative-Executive Synergy for Effective Economic Governance in Nigeria,” organised by the National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies (NILDS) in Abuja.

Bagudu said the Agenda 2050 plan is a “realistic pathway to prosperity.”

“We calculated, and to achieve this objective, Nigeria requires at least $100 billion investment per annum from both the private and public sectors,” he said.

The minister added that President Bola Tinubu’s administration had taken bold steps to reverse years of weak fiscal capacity and systemic distortions.

He explained that Agenda 2050 is divided into six medium-term plans, starting from 2021–2025 and running in five-year phases until 2050.

Agenda 2050 is Nigeria’s long-term development plan, officially called the Nigeria Agenda 2050 (NA2050).

It was approved by the Federal Executive Council in March 2023 as a replacement for the earlier Vision 20:2020.

The plan lays out how Nigeria can become a high-income, inclusive, and sustainable economy by the year 2050.

Bagudu noted that while Nigeria’s revenue-to-GDP ratio had improved from 9 percent in June 2023 to 16 percent following reforms, the country still lagged behind peers.

“Brazil, a federation like Nigeria, has a federal budget of about $700 billion, while ours is just $36 billion,” he said.

“Japan, with roughly half of Nigeria’s population, spends more than $20 trillion annually. These disparities explain why outcomes are inevitably different.”

Afam Ogene, a Labour Party lawmaker from Anambra, said the government must do more to explain economic realities to citizens.

“As of September 2025, the country is still grappling with the implementation of the 2024 budget, while local contractors protest unpaid arrears,” Ogene said.

“A government that is not able to meet its obligation is bankrupt. Engagement must continue because secrecy in government is the incubation of corruption.”

Abubakar Sulaiman, NILDS director-general Abubakar Sulaiman, represented by Shauibu Danwanka, director of legal services, said Nigeria’s fragile economy, marked by high inflation, debt servicing, currency volatility, and weak growth, requires stronger alignment between the legislature and executive.