An economic agenda for the new administration has been established by the Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprises (CPPE) with the goal of restoring investor confidence and repositioning the Nigerian economy.
In a statement released on Sunday in Lagos, the founder of the CPPE, Dr. Muda Yusuf, said that Nigeria’s current political transition gave a wonderful opportunity to reorient the nation’s economic strategy.
Sen. Bola Tinubu won the presidential election on February 25 and was declared the winner.
Yusuf claims that Nigeria’s economy is in need of a fresh direction and is in a fragile and faltering state.
He recommended that the new administration implement effective economic governance in line with tried-and-true economic theories and empirical data, contextualized within socio-economic idiosyncrasies.
He emphasized that this was essential from the start of the government to convey investors’ confidence.
In order to give immediate reforms and policy direction within a month, Yusuf noted, a strong structure for economic governance should include the creation of a technically sound transition committee on the economy.
He emphasized the importance of a free-market economy with level playing fields and little monopoly control.
“They should expand the role of markets for value delivery, boost private enterprise, carry out robust review of economic framework and engage in regular stakeholder engagement to ensure proper alignment of policies with investors sentiments.
“Government institutions that play technical roles should be headed by tested technocrats,” he said.
Yusuf argued that macroeconomic stability should be given top priority by the incoming administration, with a focus on reducing inflationary pressures, stabilizing the exchange rate, and fostering economic growth.
He continued by saying that it was important to eliminate gasoline, exchange, and tax subsidies in order to save N7 trillion and N3 trillion, respectively.
“Nigeria must unlock more income from revenue generating agencies through enhanced efficiency of their operations and initiate budget reforms to ensure fiscal discipline, curb budget padding among others.
“The administration must also ensure value for money in government expenditure and procurement and commit to reduction in the cost of governance,” he said.
He charged the new administration with making it clear that the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) would be implemented in order to draw additional capital into the oil and gas industry.
The President’s practice of serving as the Minister of Petroleum should end, he continued, and the current excellent pace against oil theft should be maintained.
In order to promote industrialization, Yusuf argued that trade and tariff changes should include a tariff structure that effectively protects local industry.
In order to lower production costs, he added, import duties on intermediate goods and essential industrial inputs should be reviewed. He also said that processes for reviewing tariffs should be more inclusive and transparent.
He demanded the abolition of all border crossings and said it was no longer acceptable to intercept cargo that had been lawfully cleared at one of our ports.
According to the head of CPPE, policy on agriculture must be comprehensive and concentrate on the full value chain.
He emphasized that proper consideration should be given to input costs and availability, output and productivity, technology application, logistics and marketing, processing, and storage.
Yusuf underlined the pressing need for mechanized, commercial agriculture, pushed by technology, to replace subsistence farming.
“There is need to attract the youth into agriculture as the farming population is rapidly ageing and this would only happen if sector is technology driven.
“Nigeria must strengthen the linkage between agriculture and industry within a sustainable backward integration framework,” he said.
