The Presidential candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar today released his policy document titled let’s Get Nigeria Working Again. Here are key points of the document as they pertain to the economy.

The Economic Agenda is divided into 5 key points:

  • Competitive and open economic system
  • Reforming public institutions
  • Reducing Infrastructure deficit
  • Promoting economic diversification
  • Human capital development

The State’s critical policy priority is to build a broad-based, dynamic and competitive economy with a GDP of US$900 billion by 2025.

Growth drivers 

Under the enabling business environment section, the Atiku administration aims to:

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  • Reform public institutions to make them stronger and more supportive and facilitating.
  • Enhance private sector access to credit which will be prioritised.
  • Strengthen regulatory institutions with their independence shielded from political interference.

PPP for Infrastructure 

  • Accelerate investment to double infrastructure stock to approximately 50% of GDP by 2025 and 70% by 2030.
  • Power sector reform will be a critical policy priority.
  • By 2025, Nigeria shall make giant strides in diversifying its sources of power and delivering up to 20,000 MW.

Stable macroeconomic environment 

  • Deepen monetary and fiscal reforms to promote a stable macro-economic environment.
  • Monetary and fiscal policies shall ensure a low inflation rate, stable exchange rate and interest rates that will be supportive of businesses’ quests for credit.
  • Increasing flow of FDI to the non-oil Sector by working towards the lowest corporate income tax in Africa as well, as lower capital gains taxes.
  • Streamlining the multiplicity of often discretionary incentives for investment and simplifying the associated complex legislative and regulatory framework.
  • Ensuring that the granting of qualification for tax incentives is automatic, according to predetermined uniform, and clear criteria.

  Promoting the agribusiness sector

  • Collaborate with the States in the design and implementation of robust and sustainable land reforms.
  • Strengthen the markets for agricultural commodities.
  • Orderly privatization of the Nigerian Commodities Exchange
  • Improve agriculture sector’s access to financial services, through NIRSAL, by de-risking lending to the sector by commercial and development banks.
  • Encourage Investment in Agro-processing Cluster by offering concessional financing, tax breaks and seed funds.

  Promoting the manufacturing sector

Policy Objectives

  • Achieve a sustained increase in manufacturing output from 9% to 30% of GDP by 2025.
  • Reduce the sector’s dependence on imported raw materials.
  • Achieve a diversified production structure with more processing of domestic raw materials.
  • Promote the competitiveness of the sector nationally and internationally.

  Action plan

  • Ensure that all major economic and investment policies are formulated after sufficient prior consultation with the organized private sector.
  • Work with the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), chambers of commerce and other relevant stakeholders to identify ways to reduce the cost of borrowing, tackle incidences of multiple taxations and improve the availability of foreign exchange for legitimate production input purchases
  • Review of import duty on raw materials that are available in the country and on imported machinery for local production
  • Support and vigorously enforce the buy-made-in-Nigeria initiative by ensuring compliance with the relevant executive order by Federal Government procurement agencies

  Promoting Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises 

  • Extend mandate of NIRSAL to cover de-risking of MSMEs lending.
  • Increase the MSME funding window currently, from N200 billion to N500 billion.
  • Promote awareness of the National Collateral Registry of Nigeria and further simplify the collateral registration process.
  • MSMEs and SMPs (Small and Medium Practitioners) will be given special fiscal advantages including tax breaks and rebates to accelerate business formalization.
  • Ensure that approvals needed for the creation of new businesses such as land acquisition, property registration and construction permits are simplified, streamlined and are not subject to excessively complex bureaucratic procedures.
  • Enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of SMEDAN in the delivery of business support/advisory services to MSMEs.

Provide support through the NEPC and NIPC to entrepreneurs who experience restricted access to external markets for goods and services

  • Promote the harmonization of State and federal tax laws to avoid overtaxing businesses
  • Pursue an aggressive regime of tax credits to critical sectors of the economy.

Promoting the New Economy 

  • Establish a ‘Technology Support Programme’ (TSP) to be funded by a diaspora bond.
  • Develop a more effective and efficient Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) framework.
  • Produce a comprehensive policy on blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies.
  • Enhance ICT literacy initiatives from early school programmes to adult education.

DOWNLOAD ATIKU ABUBAKAR POLICY DOCUMENT