‘Financialisation of National Assets Vital for FG’s Five Year Devt Plan’

Gilbert Ekugbe
According to the Chief Executive Officer, Economic Associates, Ayo Teriba, the federal government’s plan to shape the country’s development between 2021 and 2025 will only be achievable except it turns to portfolio of its national assets to unlock liquidity to achieve an all inclusive economy.

According to thim, seeking increased government revenues from economic transactions at a time of dwindling global operating margins is a mirage, advising that the surest path to full and effective funding of annual budgets and the five year plans tasked government to to realign its focus on unfolding global trends by financialising national wealth for capital gains over exploiting transactions for profits.

Teriba stated this at the Nigerian-American Chamber of Commerce (NACC) February breakfast meeting with the theme: “Nigeria Economic Outlook 2022: Implications for the Real Estate Sector,” held in Lagos.

He said the advice was in line with growing global preference for exploiting assets as portfolios for capital gains than outputs as transactions for profits.

He said this could be achieved by valuation, securitisation, liberalisation, and commercialisation of these physical, intangible or corporate assets.

Teriba said it now is the right time to rely more on finacialisation targets critical to agriculture, industry and services more than on Gross Domestic Product (GDP) figures.

“Seeking increased government revenues from economic transactions at a time of dwindling glocal operating margins is a mirage. The surest path to full and effective funding of annual budgets and five-year plans is to turn to our portfolio of national assets and unlock liquidity from them now,” he said.

He added: “Spending a tiny fraction of the time, energy, and other resources we currently expend on transaction-centric finance acts on portfolio-centric investment acts will have bigger liquidity payoffs.”

“This will boost government revenue, ease debt burden, and create adequate foreign reserves to stabilize the naira as well as accelerate growth, employment, and prosperity,” he said.
The president, Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers, Mr. Emma Wike, said the year 2022 would witness an uptrend in real estate investment and development with assurances of high return on investment.

He noted that the real estate sector would play an integral part in the nation’s economy as is in the United States of America where real estate business and investment provides a source of revenue and housing for millions of people.

Wike said the real estate market in Nigeria was filled with lots of opportunities for profitability given the country’s population growth of over 200 million

“Before this time, we have observed that the sector is witnessing an emerging market characterized with investment in residential, hospitality and commercial properties, with private developers playing key roles. Real estate is a reliable route to revamp the economy and it can drive growth and job creation if harnessed with the right enabling environment by the different levels of governments,” he added.

Earlier, the National president, NACC, Dame Adebola Williams, said the theme of the breakfast meeting will no doubt, be a good discourse to kick off the year, given the key role the Real Estate sector plays in this economy.

“This breakfast has thus been put together by the Chamber’s Property, Construction & Infrastructure Business Group as a follow up to their webinar late last year on Property Taxation as a Veritable Source of Government Finance, “she said.