Muhammadu Buhari, Nigeria’s President, claimed yesterday that the country’s revenue issues are exacerbating the debt issue, necessitating the necessity to increase earnings and business accessibility.
Although the country’s debt service to revenue ratio is unquestionably high at the moment, Buhari acknowledged that boosting revenues should now receive the majority of the government’s attention.
The President cautioned that the government must now increase its attention on productivity and promote value addition even if he promised that the country is already seeing real benefits from non-oil revenues.
This was said by President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday as he officially opened the 28th NESG meeting in Abuja. He added that this is a crucial question given the terrifying headwinds of the last three years and the emerging local and global trends that will undoubtedly define the future. He said the theme of the 28th Summit, “2023 & Beyond: Priorities for Shared Prosperity,” calls on stakeholders to consider what the country’s priorities should be to achieve inclusive prosperity from 2023 and beyond.
According to President Buhari, who was represented by Vice President Prof. Yemi Osibanjo, productivity and value addition result in the development of verifiable value, jobs, opportunities, and increased tax revenues.
He emphasized that in order to boost productivity, Nigeria must open up her business environment, facilitate local and international trade by fixing the ports, implement the national single window, overhaul our customs procedures and tariff codes to reduce delays and arbitrariness, and remove pointless import restrictions to allow value-added processes.
As stated by the President, ”Our exchange rate regime remains of concern, the discussion that we must have is how best to manage the situation by finding a mechanism for increasing supply and moderating demand which will be transparent and will boost confidence.”
In the past, the government has made a number of attempts, including the Interbank Foreign Exchange Market, the Retail Dutch Auction System, and the Wholesale Dutch Auction System. He acknowledged these efforts and added that while they may not have been perfect, the rules were clear and the gap between the official and parallel markets was not as wide.
The fact is that our policy regime should include some kind of price discovery in order to build confidence and increase foreign exchange inflows. Inflation is a tax on the poor and a hindrance to long-term progress, so we will also need to move quickly to reduce it.
He claims that while some of Nigeria’s inflation is structural and the result of infrastructure problems, there is also some that is brought on by increased money supply, foreign inflation, and naira depreciation.
In addition to the financial measures being implemented by the Central Bank of Nigeria, he claimed, the government would also need to boost domestic food production and ensure that it reaches the market.
In order to create the Nigeria of our dreams, Mr. Pascal Dozie, the keynote speaker, listed better ways to set an agenda for leaders in 2023 and beyond.
Dozie, who is also a founding member of the NESG, stated that the country would do well to recognize that a democratically established and rule-based governance system is more resilient than a dictatorship, and that the founding fathers of the country intended for an independent Nigeria to be a secular state for good reasons and a true federation.
In her own statement, Dr. Zainab Ahmed, Minister of Finance, Budget, and National Planning, stated that the federal government is developing a strategy to guarantee that the country’s per capita GDP grows to $33,000 by 2050.
According to the Minister, Nigeria will fall into the category of Upper Middle Income Countries under the plan outlined in the Nigeria Agenda 2050.
She stated that the strategy would be carried out by succeeding administrations through annual budgets and six- and five-year medium-term national development plans.
She asserts that “the Nigeria Agenda 2050 has a moral duty to considerably reduce poverty and the unemployment rate as this is the only way we can achieve sustainable broad-based growth.”
Asue Ighodalo, Chairman of the Board of the NESG, stated earlier in his introductory remarks that Nigeria is going through exceptionally difficult times and that its people must work hard to overcome these challenges.
He claims that, “We must work harder than ever before, think differently and then, we must agree on creative and practical recommendations which if implemented, will initiate our national revival and pull us out of these difficulties.”
