President Bola Tinubu, on Friday, met with Tony Elumelu, chairman of United Bank for Africa (UBA) Group PLC, to advance plans for economic growth and tax reforms aimed at strengthening small businesses.

Mr Elumelu spoke with State House Correspondents after the closed-door meeting at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

He said the discussions focused on how to strengthen small and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs), describing them as the engine of economic growth.

Mr Elumelu said the president was passionate about “capacitating” SME operators and supporting young entrepreneurs across the country.

“Today we talked about small and medium-scale enterprises and how to further support Nigerian medium and small-scale enterprises. (SMEs)

“Mr president is very passionate about my discussion about capacitating the small and medium-scale entrepreneurs in Nigeria, and I’m very happy to hear that, to feel that, to explain that, because they are the engine of economic growth,” Mr Elumelu said.

He said Mr Tinubu explained that ongoing tax reforms would be used to boost SMEs and widen opportunities for enterprise growth.

Mr Elumelu said the president also discussed the Bank of Industry (BOI) and expressed satisfaction with its current leadership and performance.

He said the alignment between government priorities and private sector support for entrepreneurs was encouraging for Nigerian youths.

Mr Elumelu, a member of the president’s Economic Council, said he also briefed Mr Tinubu on his assessment of current economic trends.

He said the monetary policy direction of the Central Bank of Nigeria was “quite encouraging”, noting improved stability and predictability.

Mr Elumelu, who is also the chairman of Heirs Holdings, a leading pan-African investment company, said that foreign exchange access was no longer a dominant concern in the banking sector, compared to previous periods.

On the power sector, he said the meeting also addressed the need to improve electricity supply for economic development.

Mr Elumelu said Mr Tinubu expressed commitment to fast-tracking payments owed in the power sector to enable generation companies to increase supply.

He described electricity access as critical to driving productivity, business growth and national development.

Mr Elumelu thanked the president for his commitment to SMEs, youth entrepreneurship and efforts to energise the power sector.

 (NAN)