By Tony Obiechina
The current socio-economic challenges confronting Nigeria over the years have called for consistent and innovative ways of solving our problems.
As it is said, government cannot do it alone and it has no business in doing business. It is therefore imperative for collaborations and provision of suitable environment for the private sector to do business and improve Economic growth.
As such, there is a deliberate need for strategic partnerships between the government and the private sector in order to drive growth and economic sustainability.
From the perspective of the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG), a private sector policy advocacy thinks tank that provides evidence-based analysis; one may ask how Nigeria’s economic conundrum happened on their watch.
However, going down the timeline of policy recommendations made by the NESG since its inception in 1993 and recently its engagements with the current administration, it is immediately evident that much has been said in the national interest, which was not adhered to.
For instance, in October 2015 at the 21st Nigerian Economic Summit (NES), six months after the new government was constituted, the NESG was quoted to have said, “Nigeria’s remarkable growth performance in the last decade has not translated into shared prosperity for average. Symptoms include high youth unemployment, high poverty incidence, declining crude oil price in the international market, the foreign-exchange crisis, and significant capital outflows”.
This quote made seven years ago sounds familiar; it is the same situation plaguing Africa’s most populous nation today.
Under the theme “Tough Choices: Achieving Competitiveness, Inclusive Growth and Sustainability”, the 21st NES in 2015 discussed and distilled issues on how to leverage Nigeria’s competitive advantage; reinvent public institutions in Nigeria; make SMEs strive, mainstream the social inclusion agenda and map out skills and innovation to boost productivity.
The NESG proposed three scenarios built by modelling the outcome of varying assumptions around reforms on the input variables – The Base, Moderate and Optimistic Scenarios. It warned the government against the Base scenario, which is adopting the status quo.
“If adopted, the economy may go into recession”, NESG recommendations said.
A few months later, Nigeria did go into recession in the second quarter of 2016; one can guess that the status quo was adopted.
However, the NESG undeterred proposed fixes at the 22nd NES with the theme “Made-in-Nigeria”, which focused on the need to revitalise the economy through strategies that promote inclusive growth and higher levels of broad-based production and consumption.
Over the years, the NESG has anchored solutionist conversations on “Opportunities, Productivity & Employment: Actualizing the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan” and “Poverty to Prosperity: Making Governance and Institutions Work”, which guided thematic discussions at the 23rd and 24th Nigerian Economic Summits.
However, with the Federal Government’s Economic Recovery and Growth Plan running out, coupled with the United Nations projection of Nigeria’s population by 2050 to be 410 million and the brink of a Fourth Industrialization Revolution characterised by economic nationalism and trends towards deglobalisation, the NESG again followed up its previous recommendations with addendums. “Nigeria 2050: Shifting Gears”,; “Building Partnerships for Resilience”, and “Securing or Future: the Fierce Urgency of Now” provided thematic frameworks to advocate for execution speed in the wake of growing security threats, rising unemployment, high poverty rate, widening inequality and an economy in slow recovery.
It is easy to juxtapose the lack of action on the public-private deliberations made to the country’s insecurity and socioeconomic challenges today. These challenges are evolving aggressively across every social institution in Nigeria. Even as the country prepares for a monumental transition of political power, the NESG proposes discussions on “2023 and Beyond: Priorities for Shared Prosperity” to recognise the pivotal role of government in jump-starting and to address with utmost urgency six critical challenges, including non-inclusive economic growth, macroeconomic instability, infrastructure deficit, human capital deficit and skills gap, national insecurity and weak economic competitiveness.
This current mandate resides not only with the political actors but with all stakeholders from old to young, educated to underserved, private to the public sector, etc.
Nigeria’s Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo also recently admitted that it is the private sector, rather than government, that can spur growth and development of the Nigerian economy.
Osinbajo also noted that the private sector is expected to invest N298 trillion or about 86 per cent of the projected investments in the National Development Plan(NDP) 2021-2025.
The vice president said that in line with its objective of creating a more conducive business environment in Nigeria, the Federal Government would continue to deepen business reforms and partner with the private sector to ensure wholesome national development.
“It is important to restate that the Federal Government has committed itself to partner with the private sector, recognising that the private sector is better equipped and resourced to lead the development of the economy”, he enthused.
He said that public-private synergy was the crux of the NDP as the Federal Government remained committed to the reforms being driven by the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC).
“The president has by several directives, approvals and executive orders set in motion and in many cases with the private sector, the most aggressive drive yet for appropriate infrastructure, power, roads, rail, and broadband connectivity.
He said that NDP was a collaboration between the government and the private sector, with an investment commitment of N348 trillion.
“The private sector is expected to invest N298trillion or about 86 per cent of the projected investments.
” This simply means that government must create the most conducive environment for private enterprise in Nigeria,” he said.
As such, the pronouncements by the vice president who chairs the National Economic Council (NEC) validates the need for collaborations with private sector to drive Economic growth which the NESG has highlighted in it’s summit recommendations.
The 28th edition of the Nigerian Economic Summit with the theme “2023 and Beyond: Priorities for Shared Prosperity” scheduled to hold on the 14th and 15th of November, 2022will further highlight the importance of public private partnerships by galvanising stakeholders to deliberate on an actionable framework for transformative political leadership and effective governance, to facilitate economic growth and nation building.
