Path to economic recovery, by stakeholders

Stakeholders have said the speed with which the economy will transit from recession to recovery in order to avoid a slump, is a function of collective readiness to attitudinal change.

Besides, they submitted that for Nigeria to reflate its economy, there is need for government to focus on governance rather than politics and put in place sustainable policies that would restore the confidence of local and foreign investors.

The experts who gathered at the first quarterly breakfast meeting organized by the Nigerian-Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (NVCCI) in Lagos recently, noted that Federal Government should urgently make its economic management team more robust and also make Nigeria’s business environment enabling for growth.

In his presentation on the economic outlook for 2017, an economist, Dr Abiodun Adedipe, identified monoculture, continuous consumption, rigidities, leakages and inefficiency as the reasons why Nigerians experienced the recession.

Dr Adedipe noted that the 2017 Budget showed great intention by the government to spend and invest in the economy, but stressed that it will take accountability and good governance for Nigeria to experience a turnaround through policies.

He said the divergence of fiscal and monetary policies appears likely to cease this year. “It is expected that monetary policy will at least, temporarily shift from inflation targeting which has been contractionary by responding to inflation”, he added.

According to him, the salvation for the Nigerian economy, beyond engendering recovery from the abating recession, is found in promoting aggressively the ‘Made-in-Nigeria’ campaign.

“Government can provide leadership here by coming up with a policy that assigns a fixed percentage of its yearly budget to patronage of made-in-Nigeria products. Perhaps set milestones for a 10-year period that runs from say, 30 per cent in 2017 to 75 per cent in 2026.”

This he said will spur huge domestic economic activities and prick the balloon of unemployment.Founder, Centre for Values in Leadership, Professor Pat Utomi, said government should focus more on restoring citizens’ trust and confidence.

He said the economic prospects for 2017 depend on individual choices and response of government to accelerate growth factors.Utomi also identified savings and diversification as major antecedent of the economic recession in Nigeria, which he said has put the country and its people on reverse gear.

He said Africa is growing slowly because its leaders are making unsustainably policies, adding that “Our institutions are weak, we need to build stronger institution to achieve a stable nation”.

He listed the frameworks of growth driver to include human capital, responsive leadership, entrepreneurship, and sustainable policies, stressing that entrepreneurship is key to nation’s development with statistics of human capital with the right values.