UK Launches £15m Growth Programme to Boost Investment and Reforms in Nigeria

The United Kingdom has unveiled a £15 million growth programme designed to support economic reforms, attract private investment and strengthen Nigeria’s long-term development agenda.

The initiative was announced by the UK's Minister for Africa and International Development, Baroness Chapman, during a two-day official visit to Nigeria that included high-level engagements in Abuja and Kaduna.

According to Chapman, the programme will run for three years and is intended to accelerate Nigeria’s economic transformation by supporting reform-driven growth, unlocking investment opportunities and strengthening key sectors of the economy.

She explained that the initiative is aimed at helping Nigeria transition from macroeconomic stabilisation to sustainable economic expansion driven by private sector participation and strategic reforms.

During her visit, Chapman met Taiwo Oyedele, Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, where both sides discussed the new initiative and broader areas of economic cooperation between Nigeria and the UK.

The UK government also announced an expansion of its collaboration with Nigeria in the digital economy through the State Partnership for Regulatory Innovation in the Digital Economy (SPRIRET), an initiative operating under the UK’s Digital Access Programme.

The programme is expected to support digital governance reforms across five Nigerian states while helping to reduce regulatory barriers that often discourage investment in broadband infrastructure, digital services and emerging technologies.

Speaking on the growing partnership, Oyedele described the UK-Nigeria relationship as one of Nigeria’s most important bilateral engagements.

He noted that the newly introduced UK-Nigeria Growth Programme would further strengthen cooperation in critical sectors, including technology, capital markets, entrepreneurship and technical capacity development.

“We continue to value the UK-Nigeria relationship, one of the most important partnerships for both our countries,” Oyedele said.

The UK minister also met with the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr. Jumoke Oduwole, to review progress under the Enhanced Trade and Investment Partnership (ETIP).

Discussions focused on expanding Nigerian exports under the UK's Developing Countries Trading Scheme as well as strengthening collaboration in fintech, trade facilitation, investment promotion and capital market development.

As part of her visit, Chapman travelled to Kaduna State where she met Governor Uba Sani to assess more than two decades of development cooperation between the UK and Kaduna State.

Both parties explored opportunities for deeper collaboration in areas such as investment mobilisation, economic development and climate financing.

The minister also visited community animal health workers and livestock breeders benefiting from UK-supported agricultural programmes and toured the Unguwan Sanusi Primary Health Care Centre in Kaduna South, which provides healthcare services to approximately 20,000 residents.

Speaking at the conclusion of her visit, Chapman described the relationship between Nigeria and the United Kingdom as strong, enduring and increasingly strategic.

“This visit has reinforced everything I believe about the UK-Nigeria partnership. That it is deep, it is real and it is moving in the right direction,” she said.

The UK government noted that the latest initiative builds on its existing economic footprint in Nigeria, which includes nearly $800 million invested through British International Investment (BII) across sectors such as agriculture, renewable energy and manufacturing.

Officials say the new programme is expected to create additional opportunities for investment, strengthen institutional reforms and support Nigeria’s ambition to achieve sustainable and inclusive economic growth.