President to Lead VP, Ministers, Others to NECA’s Summit on Economic Reform
Dike Onwuamaeze
President Bola Tinubu is expected to lead a federal government team to the Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA) summit, meant to interrogate and assess the impact of his economic reforms and policies that have had serious impact on Nigeria’s economy.
The theme of the summit, which comes up on June 25 and 26, is “Economic Renaissance: Harnessing Government Reforms and Private Sector Agility.”
Tinubu and Vice President Kashim Shettima, who would be attending the summit as special guests of honour, would be joined by the Deputy Speaker, House of Representatives, Benjamin Kalu; Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr. Wale Edu; Minister of Trade, Industry and Investment, Dr. Doris Nkiruka Uzoka-Anite; Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Hon. Nkeiruka Onyejeocha and the Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr. Olayemi Cardoso, among others.
According to the Director General of NECA, Mr. Adewale-Smatt Oyerinde, who addressed journalists yesterday in Lagos, the Tinubu’s administration commenced the implementation of the removal of subsidy and foreign exchange unification without any measures to cushion their immediate hardship on the economy and businesses.
Oyerinde noted that although the business community identified with the fuel subsidy removal and the forex unification policies, they frowned on the absence of post implementation plans to mitigate the severe effects of the policies.
He added that the NECA Employers’ Summit was created as the highest private sector-oriented advocacy platform for the deliberation and creation of solution paths for business challenges in the economy.
“The choice of the theme is a product of the need for broad discussion on the current government policy trajectory to ensure that they are businesses-centric and have the veracity to catalyse national growth and development,” he said.
Some of the key objectives of the summit, he said, include the re-establishment of “the nexus between government reforms and private sector collaboration for rapid national growth and sustainable development.”
Others are exploring alternative mechanisms for a deepened public-private partnership in job creation, skills development and enterprise sustainability, fostering a high-level participation of the private sector in reforms formulations, implementation and appraisal as a means to building national consensus and participation.
The summit, NECA said, would also provide the platform for the development of strategies for making reform benefits accessible to all and identifying inclusive growth pathways for equitable opportunities.
It would also generate and promote alternative policy frameworks for national development and reinforce the role of the private sector as engine of national development, NECA added.
The thematic areas of the summit are implementing economic policies without businesses’ resistance, job creation dynamics, advocacy for policy clarity, and strategic partnership for holistic transformation.
