Bagudu: Economic Summit to Inspire Confidence, Realisation of Country’s Potential, Others

·      Poverty on increase in Nigeria despite worldwide decline, says NESG

James Emejo in Abuja

The Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Senator Abubabar Bagudu, yesterday, said the administration of President Bola Tinubu would work with the private sector to boost confidence in the economy in order to drive job creation, economic growth and the realisation of the country’s potential.

Bagudu spoke at a media briefing on the forthcoming 29^th Nigerian Economic Summit (NES#29) with the theme: “Pathways to Sustainable Economic Transformation and Inclusion.”

He said both the public and private sector would collectively design and prioritise strategies to unlock untapped potentials, foster sustainable economic transformation and promote shared prosperity for the nation.

This was as the Chairman, Nigerian Economic Summit Group, Mr. Olaniyi Yusuf, expressed worry that while there has been a broad decline in poverty worldwide, both extreme and moderate poverty remain and continue to increase in Nigeria.

The minister, however, said the two-day summit scheduled to hold between October 23 – 24, 2023, would send a strong message on the avowed commitment of the present administration for effective collaboration with the private sector in achieving a sustainable and inclusive economic transformation.

He said the government’s strategy was to provide a modern and efficient infrastructure, promote the expansion of the private sector through deliberate policies for the formalisation of informal sector, and ensuring good governance.   

Bagudu, stressed that the pathway to sustainable economic transformation and inclusion depended on innovative policies, robust workable institutions, strategic investments in infrastructure, upskilling our human capital, encouraging entrepreneurship and innovation, and leveraging digital technology.

He said through targeted reforms, increased transparency, and good governance, Nigeria could unlock its immense economic potentials, attract foreign investments, equip the youth with the skills and resources they need to leverage the opportunities of the digital era, as well as improve the quality of life for Nigerians.

He said the summit further seeks to cultivate a people and technology-centered approach to addressing emerging trends, shaping a future of inclusive and sustainable economic growth.

The minister said the sub-themes would also address relevant pillars in the National Development Plan 2021-2025, the Nigeria Agenda 2050 and the Renewed Hope Agenda, including demographic issues, and dealing with social problems such as poverty, unemployment and inequality, as well as the expansion of fiscal space through improved revenue generation and promotion of good governance. 

He emphasised that the main target of the Nigeria Agenda 2050, was to increase the country’s per capita GDP to $6,000 and $33,000 by 2030 and 2050 respectively.

This, he said, would reduce poverty rate to 0.6 per cent and unemployment rate to 6.3 per cent, while transiting the economy to the highest per capita GDP in the group of upper-middle income economies.

He pointed out that the ‘Renewed Hope’ agenda and eight priority areas of the current administration are aimed at fast-tracking the goals of the Nigeria Agenda 2050 and the National Development Plan 2021-2025 with a double-digit growth rate and inclusive development.

He disclosed that the ministry was in the process of conducting the mid-term review of the NDP 2021-2025 with the purpose of fine-tuning the plan and ensuring that the renewed hope agenda is incorporated into the NDP 2021-2025.

He said the ministry would welcome innovative ideas from the stakeholders at the summit to ensure its effective integration into the NDP 2021-2025.  

He said the summit had become the largest and foremost annual convergence for public sector policy makers and private sector industry leaders in the country, bringing together development partners, civil society organisations and representatives of the academia.

Speaking at the briefing, Yusuf, pointed out that amid a rapidly changing global economic landscape and increasing inequalities, a strategy for sustained growth must ensure a form of industrialisation that makes opportunities accessible to all people and broadly distributes income and non-income gains across society. 

He said government’s inability to fully integrate solutions to social issues into targeted industrial and economic policies undermines the country’s developmental potential, widening income inequality gaps.

He said low productivity, inadequately diversified local economic activity, high unemployment rates and job insecurity remained a challenge for the country.

He noted that with a predominantly young population and a high debt burden, Nigeria must chart a trajectory that ensures inter-generational and sustainable growth, adding that the country had encountered various economic and political obstacles in recent years, underscoring the urgent need to redesign its systems and address structural issues. 

The NESG chairman stressed that the need to translate economic growth into improved living standards for all its citizens remained one of Nigeria’s pressing concerns.

Among other things, he said the summit would, “prioritise strategic collaborations, evidence-based policies, data-driven metrics, and human talent development to drive economic progress, focusing on the role of technology and innovation and sub-national and local governments as drivers of economic growth and development.”