The Acting President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo has released the government’s plan to pull the Nigerian economy out of a biting economic recession and into a period of economic stability that will surely usher prosperity for many.
The document which is entitled the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan outlines the five key execution priorities of the Federal Economic Team and the Federal Executive Council to enable Nigeria become a major player in the global economy. The document said this potential has remained relatively untapped over the years.
After a shift from agriculture to crude oil and gas in the late 1960’s, Nigeria’s growth has continued to be driven by consumption and high oil prices. Previous economic policies left the country ill-prepared for the recent collapse of crude oil prices and production.
The five key areas which the plan will focus on according to the document are Macroeconomic stability; Agriculture and food security; Energy; Transportation Infrastructure; Industrialization and focus on SMEs. The plan relies on the non-oil sector of the economy but also factors in the importance of recovering oil prices and the need for stability in the Niger Delta.
According to the Federal government, the plan will create 1.5 million jobs in 2017 and another 13.5 million jobs by 2020. Overall the plan aims to create 10 million jobs by 2019 just before the election year. The plan is however silent on the issue of minimum wage. A contentious contemporary issue as civil rights activists and labour leaders have called for minimum wage to be raised to 50,000 Naira monthly. At the current level of N18,000 several state governors are owing employees months of arrears.
You can read the government’s economic recovery & growth plan here