The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy Chief Olawale Edun has said the last time Nigeria’s economy looked stable was about a decade ago.
He made this statement during his maiden press conference as Minister of Finance where he outlined President Bola Tinubu’s vision, agenda and strategy for the economy.
- He said, “I think as we all know, we are not where we should be. The economy is barely growing above the rate of population growth.
- “But it was not always so, and I think in trying to look at the way forward, if we now have a situation of slow growth, double-digit inflation, weak/depreciating exchange rate, as well as security concerns that are resulting in an economy that is not growing and not taking Nigerians out of poverty.
- “If we think back to the last time when the economy was stable- when it was growing, when inflation was low, and the interest rate was affordable, that period was about a decade ago. Growth was about 6% in 2013 and 2014.”
Private sector to drive the economy
Speaking further, Mr. Edun noted that the prevailing circumstances that necessitated the economic growth of the 2010s were not present today hence the government has to allow private funding for certain problems.
He specifically mentioned FDIs and domestic investment by Nigerians as ways in which the private sector can contribute to President Tinubu’s strategy of economic recovery.
He said the President’s antecedents of deploying private investment in areas such as infrastructure, power, waste management etc. during his time as Governor of Lagos serves as a pointer towards the plan of the current administration.
Key Priorities of President Tinubu
- Speaking on the key priority areas President Tinubu will focus on, the finance minister said, “The key priorities are to improve the lives of Nigerians by providing food security by ending poverty.
- “His plan for the economy is economic growth, job creation, access to capital- particularly consumer credit that makes goods affordable to the average Nigerian.
- “Utilising our human resources- our vast, capable human resources, by focusing on inclusivity-women, youth and making all have the opportunity to contribute to prosperity and likewise focusing on security, rule of law and corruption. He intends to create a fairer, safer playing field for all”
Commenting on how the President hopes to measure performance, Mr Edun said objective measure of performance will be used, he made reference to inclusivity when he said “In the area of inclusivity, we will measure literacy rate, out-of-school children and see how successful the trend in reducing out-of-school children, rule of law, anti-corruption etc likewise other metrics will be used to check how well the administration is doing”
Keys to achieving President Tinubu’s agenda
He further mentioned that the key to achieving President Tinubu’s agenda is increasing revenues so that there is enough funding from the government to carry out its expenditure.
- In his words, “On the one hand is by increasing tax revenue not by increasing taxes but by bringing greater efficiency and to maximise the revenue. There will be an emphasis on efficiency in government expenditure and effective debt management so that borrowing has linked to it, the effective debt management”
- “Overall, the President is going to provide a better life for all by encouraging investment that improves productivity, grows the economy and thereby creates jobs and reduces poverty”
It would have been more strategic for the minister to build on the previous administration than to set himself against them.
This statement will come back to haunt him, because in a very unstable world where he cannot control internationalevents, even if he achieves 15% economic growth there will still be major disruptions such as we’ve seen in the last few months.
For instance, Could he have foreseen the crises in Niger and the impact on the economy in the North?
Nigerian leaders need to learn how to build on others just like China did accross 50 years.
The question is, what is there to build on?
The immediate previous administration itself literally came to tear down the good things we had going, and created room for corruption to flourish at scale.
The is left for the current administration to do (if interested in building a Nigeria that works) is to work on restoring the foundation of empowering the private sector with the right policies and infrastructures like power, and also set the country on a solid path of production/manufacturing.
There is nothing to build on from the immediate past administration other than railway. The current administration should put efforts into connecting all the regions by rail (light and heavy).
The question is, what is there to build on?
The immediate past administration itself literally came to tear down the good things we had going, and created room for corruption to flourish at scale.
What is left for the current administration to do (if interested in building a Nigeria that works) is to work on restoring the foundation of empowering the private sector with the right policies and infrastructures like power, and also set the country on a solid path of production/manufacturing.
There is nothing to build on from the immediate past administration other than railway. The current administration should put efforts also into connecting all the regions by rail (light and heavy).
“the last time Nigeria’s economy looked stable was about a decade ago.”
Yeah, that was before APC came with their collective poison of incompetence, and backed it up with the pestilence called Buhari.
The present administration should focus more on Industrial/Manufacturing and Agricultural Development Sector. This is the only way to solve unemployment and food security in Nigeria