Overseas investors watched with eager anticipation as Nigeria’s new president, Bola Tinubu, gave his inaugural speech in Abuja’s Eagle Square last month.

The 71-year-old inherits an in-tray overflowing with tasks that demand his urgent attention. But what foreign investors were especially keen to hear about was how he intends to breathe life into Nigeria’s economy — in particular, whether he had anything to say about the severe lack of foreign exchange that has hamstrung international investors.

Tinubu did not disappoint: “I have a message for our investors, local and foreign: our government shall review all their complaints about multiple taxation and various anti-investment inhibitions. We shall ensure that investors and foreign businesses repatriate their hard-earned dividends and profits home.”