By OLADIMEJI ABIDOYE
FRI, 2 SEPTEMBER 2016-Scores of Nigerian and top foreign industry chief executives, CEOs, gathered Wednesday at the Nigerian Stock Exchange building to demand not only prompt actions to fix the economy but also provided some leads as to how that can be accomplished so as to move the management of the economy away from the ‘command and control’ fixation.
“Nigeria needs to sell asset, borrow or swap to create more foreign exchange for the economy to grow,” suggested Segun Ogunsanya, CEO/MD, Airtel Nigeria while calling for economy’s diversification as well. Many more of his peers belted out their opinions in an apparent desperation to elicit some responses from the central government.
They made the clarion calls during the 2nd edition of NSE/Bloomberg CEO roundtable, themed navigating the changing business landscape in Nigeria.
The federal government was advised to quickly take short term measures to solve the economy’s dwindling fortunes so as to cater for infrastructural development and ever increasing unemployment.
About 4.58 million Nigerians are currently unemployed according to latest data by the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics, NBS, and dozens of industries have gone under since the beginning of the year creating millions of job losses in the process.
All of the CEOs talked of the problems that is afflicting their performance including Foreign exchange scarcity, poor power infrastructure, policies to fast track and enable a digital economy, dwindling oil prices as well as policies to ‘bring back the fleeing foreign investors’.
The CEO of Nestle Nigeria PLC, Dharnesh Gordhon, said his company like many other manufacturing companies in Nigeria is faced with shortage of forex.
“Forex scarcity and the high cost of production are affecting the revenues the manufacturing sector is generating as well as their production level. The Forex problem creates a ripple effect that disrupts their operations”
He stressed the need for Government to improve power generation in the country. “There have been a lot of policies in power but no improvement, for the past seven month we have not seen gas supply and to that extent, we had to switch to diesel which is quite expensive when compared to gas.”
Segun Ogunsanya also acknowledged that broadband infrastructure enables social and economic growth in the digital economy, and made the call to promptly digitalise the economy, he said: “broadband challenges needs to be addressed because internet and broadband have been globally accepted and it is a foundation for transformation to knowledge-based economy. The Telecom is a unique sector and should be treated as a manufacturing entity that contributes to the growth of the economy, if the right economic atmosphere and policies are put in place” he said.
While commenting on the issue of foreign investors, Dr Okiti Ogho, Economist and Policy Analyst was of the opinion that beyond devaluation of Naira foreign investors needs to be assured of consistent government policies, security, adequate infrastructure like power, transportation and good roads before they can invest in the country. He reiterated the need for good policies that will drive the economy.
He said “Nigeria needs to have an inclusive growth, the informal sector which contains more than 50% of the GDP needs to be captured in the GDP”. He discussed the Non Performing Loans of banks which are mostly in foreign currency, he said the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, banks and the federal government need to come together to work out solutions on how to address the issue.
“It should be taken as a National problem and should be addressed holistically” he concluded.
Ayo Fashina of Chapel Hill Denham said “Nigeria have to focus on other sectors of the economy now that oil sector is down”. He further said Nigeria has natural resources course and now that there is fall in oil prices it is an opportunity for the country to look into other areas. He called on the federal government to partner with the private sector to invest in infrastructure that will be positive on the economy. According to him infrastructure development has multiplier effect on the economy and if Nigeria can develop infrastructure, the effect will be felt on other sectors of the economy.
While commenting on the policies of the present government, Mr Mark Bohlund Middle East Senior Economist Bloomberg Intelligent said “the current administration approach to economic management has been more of command and control” He said the federal government should be flexible and involve the stakeholders of the economy to bring good policies.
The CEO Nigeria Stock Exchange Mr Oscar N. Onyema said after the deliberations from the stakeholders discussions will be articulated and submitted to the Nigeria policy makers.
