Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has announced that the Federal Government has been willing to implement new ideas suggested in the Economic Sustainability Plan (ESP) after the fallout of the pandemic on the nation’s economy.

This was disclosed by the media aide to the Vice President, Laolu Akande, in a statement on Tuesday in Abuja. He added that the Vice President disclosed this at a virtual meeting with the Franco-Nigeria Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

What you should know 

In June, the Nigerian Government released its Economic Sustainability Plan which it hopes will address the economic challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. The plan was put together by the Economic Sustainability Committee (ESC) assembled by President Muhammadu Buhari. Members of the committee included the Vice President, CBN Governor, 15  Ministers, GMD NNPC, and the Permanent Secretary.

The report said Nigeria should:

1. Develop a clear Economic Sustainability Plan in response to challenges posed by the COVID-19 Pandemic;
2.  Identify fiscal measures for enhancing distributable oil and gas revenue, increasing non-oil revenues and reducing non-essential spending, towards securing sufficient resources to fund the plan;
3. Propose monetary policy measures in support of the Plan;
4. Provide a Fiscal/Monetary Stimulus Package, including support to private businesses (with emphasis on strategic sectors most affected by the pandemic) and vulnerable segments of the population, and many others.

The Vice President disclosed that implementing the Plan was to save jobs and protect Nigerian businesses affected by the pandemic.

Osinbajo said, “It is important to recognise that the pandemic, which really is the cause of the downturn, not just in the Nigerian economy but practically all of our economies, all over the world, except perhaps China, also provides incredible opportunities for doing all manner of very innovative and creative things.

“And if you look at our ESP, which is our response to the pandemic, what we tried to do was to do a few things that we thought would be game-changing.

“For example, one of the important things that we are trying to do with respect to renewable energy is with solar power.

“We are collaborating with several solar power companies to provide within the next 12 months, five million Nigerian households with solar home systems.

“This is partly to address the issues with the national grid by providing more off-grid capacity and provide more opportunities in the renewable energy space.

“ What we are doing is to get the financing through the Central Bank of Nigeria as part of the Economic Sustainability Plan.”

Osinbajo said backward integration is key to driving economic growth and urged for private sector commitment to align with the FG’s backward integration goals.

“For us, the issue of backward integration is right, front and centre, and it has been so for many years.

“We believe that an aggressive pursuit of it is really important for us as an economic policy.

“The most important thing, as I said, is that we are committed to backward integration.

“Unfortunately, over the years, many companies have committed to backward integration but have simply not been as diligent and faithful with those promises.

“So, we really want to see much greater commitment and a plan that is as aggressive as our own aspirations,” he added.

The African Union has announced that its Specialised Committee on Finance, Monetary Affairs, Economic Planning and Integration will discuss the launch of a payment system for the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) from the 1st to the 3rd of December.

The African Union disclosed this on Tuesday evening, the meeting will be 2 days before the planned deadline on the ratification of the agreement.

What you should know 

The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) is one of the  biggest free-trade agreements in the world right now with a potential market of 1.2 billion people and a combined gross domestic product of $2.5 trillion

The Federal Government announced that it has ratified Nigeria’s membership to the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), ahead of the December 5, 2020 deadline. The agreement goes into effect from the 1st of January 2021.

Mr. Francis Anatogu, Secretary, National Action Committee on AfCFTA, stated that the agreement would reduce the erosion of the naira, which has suffered nearly 90% devaluation since 2016, through exports of Nigerian-made goods and services, and give exposure of the naira to other currencies.

The African Union is building a Continental Payment System that would help ease payment integration in AfCFTA countries. The theme of the meeting will be “Securing Africa’s Taxing Rights, Stemming Illicit Financial Flows and developing payment system for AfCFTA”.

The AU disclosed that it would be a major step towards the Agenda 2063 for Africa. They also added that the meeting will discuss implementations of “Aspiration1”, which aims for continental inclusive growth and development.

They will also discuss how to prevent illegal capital flight and tax challenges surrounding the agreement due to the rising African Digital Economy.

The Federal Inland Revenue Service(FIRS) has raked in the total sum of N4.178 trillion as revenue out of the personal target of N4.239 trillion – 98.6% of the revenue goal for the year.

This is according to a tweet by an aide to President Buhari, Lauretta Onochie, via her verified Twitter handle, as seen by Nairametrics.

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Executive Chairman, FIRS, Muhammad Mamman  Nami says the agency has raked in ₦4.178T revenue out of d ₦4.239T target it set for itself -News

Meanwhile, @MBuhari exempted those on minimum wages & those who run small businesses from paying tax
That's more money in their pockets pic.twitter.com/2HtW5bTkEr

— Lauretta Onochie (@Laurestar) November 24, 2020

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Commenting on the recent development, Lauretta Onochie said: “Executive Chairman, FIRS, Muhammad Mamman Nami says the agency has raked in ₦4.178T revenue out of the ₦4.239T target it set for itself -News.

“Meanwhile, @MBuhari exempted those on minimum wages & those who run small businesses from paying tax. That’s more money in their pockets.”

READ: FBN Holdings Plc posts Profit of N21.9 billion in Q3 2020

Why it matters

Following the instability in the oil market and the recession that the country has found itself in, due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is pertinent to explore other alternative sources of income, like taxation. This sort of news is also a cheering one, especially as it is in line with the present administration’s goal of creating viable alternative sources of revenue for the country.

What this means

With some weeks to go before the year ends, the result so far indicates that the agency has been proactive and worked assiduously well to achieve its objective. Attaining 98.6% of its target is no mere feat.