By Tony Obiechina, Abuja
Following the adverse effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on nation’s economy, the federal government has assured that it will continue to make critical investments in key sectors including agriculture, infrastructure, health, and education.
The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed gave the assurance in his keynote address at the National Dialogue on COVID-19 Economic Impact and Assessment of National and State Recovery Plans and Policy Options held in Abuja on Tuesday.
She also stated that in doing so, “we must sustainably address the longstanding challenge of domestic revenue mobilization, in part through continued implementation of the Strategic Revenue Generation Initiative (SRGI), and through continued incremental fiscal reforms via the introduction of annual Finance Bills, as well as reducing the cost of governance”.
According to her, “We are also working collaboratively across Ministries, Departments and Agencies, and with the State and Local governments to address financing for key cross-cutting issues”.
Other measures put in place to mitigate the impact of the pandemic she said include “implementing programmes aimed at creating jobs for our youth, and to support MSMEs. Furthermore, we are scaling interventions aimed at improving the economic empowerment of women and girls a key driver of economic growth, improved development outcomes, and improved economic resiliency.
“This includes enhanced access to financing and capacity building for women-owned businesses, particularly MSMEs. Additionally, we are focusing on enabling digital transformation and disruptive innovation, a key driver for MSME innovation and scale up across the country”, she added.
The Minister who reeled out palliative measures taken by the government during the outbreak of the pandemic said, her “Ministry is glad to partner with SEDIN in its support to national and sub-national Governments in Nigeria. In particular, the continued empowerment of micro, small and medium sized enterprises (MSMEs) is a critical driver for building back better in Nigeria and across the African continent. We look forward to receiving the final report of today’s Dialogue.
Also speaking, representative of GIZ SEDIN head of programme, Ana Vinambres said its work in Nigeria is largely commissioned by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).
She disclosed that currently over 350 national and international employees are working in the country, adding that “a distinctive feature of GIZ’s activities in Nigeria is the high level of financial contributions obtained from other sources- primarily the European Union (EU) and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
“These funds make it possible to broaden the scope and intensity of the programmes being implemented, thereby boosting the effectiveness of German Development Cooperation with Nigeria. Today, GIZ has over 20 different programmes with activities in over 20 states in Nigeria and 12 state offices”, she added.
The GIZ Rep said in reaction to the global outbreak, the German government allocated additional funds (around 12 million Euros) for immediate support in the EcOWAS region, adding that German funds were made available to support the development of national COVID-19 immediate response plans, for trainings of medical task forces and for the purchase of personal protective equipment (PPE), intensive care-unit (ICU) equipment, as well as locally produced sanitizer. These materials are distributed to the member states by the West African Health Organisation.
“While COVID-19 is still here with us, it is important to look at additional ways to support MSMES resilience, create new jobs and fast track economic recovery. SEDIN is committed to take forward the recommendations of this dialogue as we are open as well to further support and collaboration with all relevant stakeholders”, she admonished.
In her closing remarks, the Director of ERPM Department in the Finance Ministry, Mrs G.M Ogbonna assured that a policy recommendation on the outcome of the National Dialogue would be forwarded to the Management for consideration.
