NECA Calls for Realignment of FG’s Multiple Reforms to Avert Stifling Private Sector’s Growth

Dike Onwuamaeze

Following the torrents of reform policies launched by President Bola Tinubu’s administration in the past two years, the Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA) has called on the federal government to realign these reforms to avoid stifling the private sector’s growth.

This call was made yesterday in Lagos, by the Director General of NECA, Mr. Adewale-SmattOyerinde, during a press conference to announce the 4th Nigeria Employers’ Summit with the theme “Enabling Sustainable Enterprise in a Transitioning Economy: Aligning Fiscal, Trade, and Regulatory Reforms for Inclusive Development.”

Oyerinde said the high-level keynotes addresses during the summit, which would hold in Abuja on June 25th and 26th, would be delivered by Vice President KashimShettima, and federal ministers of Finance, Industry, Interior, and the Federal Capital Territory.

In his opening remarks during the press conference, Oyerindeemphasised that the concurrent implementation of multiple reform policies are impacting the productivity and competitiveness of orgaised private sector.

Some of the ongoing reforms, according to him, include the tax and fiscal policy reform, monetary policy reform, trade policy reform, industrial revolution reform, aviation sector reforms and the immigration policy reforms.  

He said: “Our call is that there is need to realign these reform policies so that they do not hurt but rather promote the private sector’s growth and invariably the overall growth of the Nigerian economy.

“Also, one of the most important things for us is to gain more clarity about these reform policies of the government as there are many reforms going on everywhere.

“And it will be unfortunate if the businesses that will make these reforms to work do not really understand them. So one of the first things we want is to gain more clarity about the reforms across the economic sectors.

“Then build consensus around them without which they will become difficult to implement. We need this consensus to build the private sector’s confidence that these reforms will do what they were set out to achieve.

“The private sector needs to be part of what is happening. We need to make inputs and our voice should be heard.”  

Speaking during the press conference, the Chairman, National Employers’ Summit Planning Committee, Ms. Victoria Uwadoka, said the objective of the summit is to bring together leaders from government, industry, civil society, and the international community to engage in open, solution-oriented dialogue around some of the most urgent and strategic issues confronting enterprises in Nigeria today.

Uwadoka, said the summit was intended to build consensus because there are many reform policies in place that are targeting the same people and businesses for their implementation.

She, therefore, noted that there was an urgent need to create systematic engagement between the public and private sectors to think through these reforms policies and make changes where necessary in order to build consensus on a roadmap for sustainable enterprise and inclusive economic development for Nigeria.

She said: “Our message today, and indeed throughout this summit, is a simple but critical one: Rebuilding the Nigerian economy is a shared responsibility, and the engine of that rebuilding is an enterprise that is supported, not stifled; empowered, not burdened.

“Therefore, we are calling on the public sector to recommit to enabling policies and regulatory coherence.”

According to her, it is good to have reforms because the country would not keep doing the same thing and expect a different result. 

“But the most critical thing that is to achieve a synchronisation of these reform policies so that they do not work against each other.

“What we want to see is that everyone is working on shared priorities. We want the public and private sector to be on the same page by synchronising these reform policies in order to move faster toward achieving the industrial and economic growth that we desire in Nigeria,” Uwadoka said.