First Bank of Nigeria Limited, on Thursday, organized a webinar to address Nigeria Economic Outlook for 2022 which was themed “Rearview look at 2021, lessons learnt – Outlook 2022”. The webinar had over 2000 participants across the globe.
The bank introduced the initiative to set the tone for the year through the provision of an opportunity for participants to learn directly from economic experts to stay informed and knowledgeably empowered to make the right decisions in their socio-economic activities in 2022 which will be impacted by the micro and macro-economic activities of the country.
The event was strategically positioned at a time when investors, local and foreign, are making investment decisions and forecasts for the year. Hence, this event has provided insights into what should be expected and the outcome of the government’s utilization of macroeconomic tools.
What the experts said
Amongst the economic experts present at the webinar was Mr. Opeyemi Agbaje, the founder of RTC Advisory Services Limited believed that inflation will potentially remain a concern to Nigerian consumers.
In his words, “Inflation will probably continue to be a concern for the consumer, shrinking his wallet and decreasing the cost of consumption for the consumer.”
Speaking on the 2021 review and 2022 outlook, he stated that, “GDP growth is gradually inching up, by Bismarck’s projections, we may finally be above the rate of population growth in terms of growth….Trade is beginning to pick up, real estate is beginning to reach positive territory, communications and information has been strong, agriculture remains problematic and I think there is finally evidence that insecurity and disruptions of the agricultural value chain are affecting food production and prices”.
In his opinion, in 2021, consumers were concerned about food supply and its prices, these concerns are expected to be sustained in 2022.
Mr. Bismark Rewane, the keynote speaker at the event stated that the first half of the year, H1 2022, will focus on Economics while the second half, H2 2022, will be Politics centred.
In addition to this, he said, GDP should be expected to be 3.9% higher than the projected rate and we could see inflation on an upward ride before reducing. Also stating that external reserves will reduce during the year and we will see the Naira strengthening as exchange rate differential drops and converges.
