By Deji Elumoye
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has expressed optimism about Nigeria’s extremely bright economic future, which he said cannot be aborted despite current challenges.
The Vice President in a release Wednesday by his spokesman, Laolu Akande, spoke while inspecting SecureID facility in Lagos. He said despite challenges the country’s economic future is bright and issues will be resolved.
He said the Buhari Administration in following the recommendation of the Presidential Economic Advisory Council, was determined that manufacturing will be the main focus in bringing about dynamic growth, jobs and exports.
According to him, ”This will mean retooling our business environment for greater competitiveness, especially with the take off of the African Continental Free Trade Area agreement. We are rethinking our tax regimes, sorting out external and internal trade issues, getting our regulatory authorities; SON, NAFDAC, and even Customs, to see their roles more as business facilitators rather than policemen or revenue generators. Our environment must be friendly for local businesses first, foreign investments will follow enthusiastically.
”Aside from the work we are doing with other infrastructure such as rail, roads and power we are committed to a plan of democratizing broad band connectivity. Our programme, which we have reiterated in our Economic Sustainability Plan, is broadband connectivity for all by 2023. The Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy launched the National Broadband Plan which is designed to deliver data download speeds across Nigeria of a minimum 25mbps in urban areas and 10mbps in rural areas, with effective coverage available to at least 90 percent of the population at affordable prices by the target date. Broadband connectivity is as important as electricity in the digital age unlike electricity we do not have to make several mistakes before getting it right.”
While commending the efforts of the founder and Managing Director of SecureID, Mrs Kofo Akinkugbe, Osinbajo described SecureID facility as a place of history, innovation and creativity.
He said, “This world-class manufacturing facility is reputed to be the first certified smartcard manufacturing plant in sub-Saharan Africa, the only smart card production and personalization plant in West Africa and one of only six on the continent and one of only 80 in the world. The facility serves 21 countries across Africa and is fully certified by major commercial card companies – VISA, Verve and MasterCard. SecureID has shown that this country can be at the cutting edge of development in technology and digital enterprises. The world in which companies like SecureID operates, providing comprehensive end-to-end payment, identity management and digital security solutions is one that thrives on innovation.
Earlier, in her speech, Funder of SecureID, Mrs. Kofo Akinkugbe, noted that SecureID was a good entrepreneurial story of an abiding faith in God and the nation, proving the viability of investing and staying in the course.
Akinkugbe commended the federal government for establishing institutions and agencies to support and encouraged start-ups, MSMEs and other enterprises that had offered assistance to the company.
Also speaking, the representative of the Bank of Industry, its Executive Director, Mr. Simon Araronu, said he was excited to partner with SecureID, being a pioneer of world-class status in the industry, as well as making world class products, while generating foreign exchange earnings and creating jobs.
