Nigeria needs N35trn annually to achieve real growth – Stakeholders

Stakeholders in the financial industry have said that for Nigeria to reverse trend of unemployment, poverty level and achieve real growth in the economy, it needs capital investment of N35 trillion per annum over a period of 10 years.

A communique issued by the Association of Issuing Houses of Nigeria (AIHN) after it’s business launch meeting in Lagos said that for the country to deliver economic growth, revenue generation must be the major priority of government, adding there was need to stimulate productive activities within the economy that would generate revenue.

They however said that private sector efficiency was critical in harnessing the potential infrastructure development, stressing increased efforts must be made to galvanise Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) as well as domestic investment.

For the power sector to thrive, the participants said that government must create an enabling environment and address existing governance, legal, regulatory, funding and pricing issues.

It, however, said that now is the best time for the capital market to invest intellectual capital and develop solutions for funding key national priority sectors such as power, transportation and telecommunications to achieve the transformational and catalytic economic benefits.

Stakeholders also recognise the desired supporting role of government, stressing that there was need for the private sector and capital market to put itself in the driving seat while government should be decisive and close out on key policy issues affecting the functioning of the economy to create the right framework for the market to thrive.

They stated that for the economy to be on a right track, government must focus on Policy Reforms that Promotes Market Economics, Liberalizetion of the Oil & Gas Sector;  Power Sector Optimisation, adopt private sector led infrastructure development, decentralisation of decision making for job creation and unlocking of the debt markets for real estate.

It further said that for the capital market to deliver on its role as a catalyst of economic growth, market operators have to be put in the position to operate optimally, noting that pricing for services has to be market driven and policies put in place that would allow operators intermediate properly in the financial markets and develop local capabilities so that Nigeria can develop its own global firms and rely less on foreign expertise to execute major projects.  

The communique also listed our population growth as a significant threat to Nigeria’s medium term economic prosperity, which it said required an urgent  need to declare  a state of emergency on the population problem and urgently work on ways to control it.

The business launch meeting attended by President, AIHN, Chuka Eseka, Acting Director General, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Mary Uduk; and the Minister of Finance, Mrs Zainab Ahmed represented by the Deputy Director of Home Finance, Mr Ebade Atuola, among others noted that the capital market is the barometer for measuring the health of the economy, adding that since the global financial crisis of 2008 – 2009, Nigeria’s capital market has been constrained in fulfilling its mandate to drive the growth and development of the biggest economy in Africa.

They said that the capital market provides a good platform for addressing many of Nigeria’s economic challenges.

They expressed the need for the AIHN to take the initiative to influence the new administration’s implementation strategy of its Economic Recovery Growth Plan (ERGP) by pointing out areas where funding can be more easily accessed from the capital markets if appropriate reforms are introduced.  

For the capital market to fulfill its 10-year masterplan, they said government policies and support are needed to drive activities that will encourage private sector participation to drive fundraising from the capital market.

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