By Dipo Olowookere
President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday informed some key players in the private sector that the rates at which banks in the country give loans to farmers, small business owners and manufacturers have been lowered in the past 10 months.
Yesterday, the President held a dinner with Mr Aliko Dangote, Mr Jim Ovia and others at the Going for Growth 2:0 Roundtable Session organised by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) headed by Mr Godwin Emefiele.
Mr Buhari, during the gathering, said he agreed to participate in the dinner because he believes that the task of enabling greater growth and development of the Nigerian economy requires joint collaboration between the public and the private sectors.
According to him, his administration remains steadfast in seeking to promote growth of the Nigerian economy, and by extension the growth of the private sector.
While pointing out the threats posed by the coronavirus on the economy, he said efforts are being made to ensure that Nigeria is self-sufficient in the production of strategic goods.
The President he was determined to diversify the nation’s economy and improve the country’s level of self-sufficiency in food production.
“These measures would help support faster economic growth, create employment opportunities for our teeming youths, and reduce our import bill,” he noted.
The stressed that the COVID-19 and the subsequent crash in the price of crude oil by over 45 percent since January 2020 has highlighted the fact that “we need to continue to implement measures that would enable growth in other sectors of our economy and reduce our dependence on earnings from crude oil.”
“For these objectives to be achieved, the vital role of the Nigerian private sector cannot be disputed or overemphasised,” Mr Buhari said.
“I am delighted to note that we have made some progress in our diversification plans and in creating an enabling environment for the Nigerian private sector to thrive,” he continued.
He noted that, “In the agricultural and manufacturing sectors, we have seen substantial improvements in the cultivation and processing of key staple commodities such as rice, maize, cotton and tomatoes.”
“We have also worked to improve access to finance for businesses in the agriculture and manufacturing sectors. Access to credit is often cited as a constraint to the growth of farmers and small and medium sized businesses. Over the past 10 months, we have seen significant improvements in credit to support continued growth of our economy.
“I am aware that lending rates by banks to farmers, small businesses and manufacturers have been lowered over the same period. These measures along with aggressive efforts at rebuilding our road, rail and power infrastructure, will help to reduce the cost of doing business in Nigeria and promote faster growth of our economy,” the President added.
He said, “Apart from the successes we have recorded, I admit that challenges do remain. Given our dependence on crude oil revenues for close to 60 percent of government revenues, the recent decline in crude oil prices affects our ability to meet the infrastructure and human capital needs.
“Also, with annual population rates, we must continue to support growth in sectors that have the ability to absorb the employment needs of our growing population. With our vast arable land as well as population, ample room for growth exist in our agriculture and manufacturing sectors.
“I, therefore, welcome continued collaboration with the private sector. The recommendations provided today on ways in which the private sector can support growth in key sectors such as Agriculture, Manufacturing, ICT, and Finance are necessary if we are to achieve double digit growth of our economy.
“I assure you that this government would pay close attention to your recommendations, as part of our efforts towards developing policies and programs that will enable improved economic growth and creation of jobs.”
Adedapo Adesanya