The summit should help set agenda for a resilient, high-growth economy
The 28th annual session of the National Economic Summit Group (NESG), a private sector-driven organisation, holds today and tomorrow in Abuja with the theme ‘2023 and Beyond: Priorities for Shared Prosperity.’ Some of the issues listed for discussion include non-inclusive economic growth, macroeconomic instability, infrastructure and human capital deficit as well as skills gap, national insecurity, and weak economic competitiveness. Jointly held with the federal government in a private-public partnership, we hope the summit will help set agenda on how to build a resilient, high-growth economy in a post-2023 Nigeria.
In a meeting with NESG delegation last week, Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo highlighted the role of the private sector in solving macroeconomic challenges. “I am always concerned we don’t allow very many issues to obscure the more important issues that confront us today so that we leave the summit with a clearer view on how we can resolve the pressing issues. For example, how do we tackle the rising inflation and the exchange rate instability?” asked Osinbajo. “The NESG has also been very useful in educating the private sector about the processes of running a complex system such as the one that we have. It has been a very useful synergy between the public and the private sector.”
As in previous years, expected participants at the two-day summit include national and global leaders in government, business, politics, development, civil society, and academia through a hybrid platform of in-person and virtual dialogues. But the summit is holding at a most difficult period for Nigeria. In recent weeks, the exchange rate of the Naira has gone practically haywire, commercial banks have virtually stopped lending because of high interest rates, inflation is now almost 21 per cent, documented unemployment is growing every day while foreign inflows have continued to dwindle. To compound the challenge, insecurity has driven many from their farms while the flooding of many farmlands has pushed the prices of food staples beyond the reach of millions of Nigerians. These are some of the pressing issues for which solutions must be proffered at the summit.
Meanwhile, the summit must also reflect on previous outings to see where lessons can be learned. Two years ago, the NESG focused on the mounting national debts. In its 2020 macroeconomic outlook, the NESG had stated that “Nigeria’s mounting debt profile is a major concern despite the country having about $900 billion worth of dead capital in properties and agricultural lands”, referencing the 2019 PwC Nigeria, report. Last year, the focus was on Nigeria’s uncontrolled population which, according to the NESG outlook, has become a major challenge as the prospects of poverty reduction in the near future is increasingly becoming a mirage. To tackle the revenue challenge, the NESG had also at different times reaffirmed the recommendation of several other stakeholders that the federal government should consider unlocking finance and economic growth by the commercialisation or privatisation of many dead capital/assets. Representatives of government need to be asked salient questions about some of the choices that have been made in recent years and their long-term implications for the economy.
We share the NESG position that the 2023 general election presents opportunity for critical reflections on new strategic imperatives for economic reform to secure the country’s future. But beyond looking at the federal government, it is also important for stakeholders to examine the role of states and local governments as frontiers of growth and development if we must build a more inclusive economy. But given that the country is not lacking in road maps that result from such sessions as the NESG’s, the challenge of the moment is how the country will move from talk to action in all areas of our national life.
