Lagos State Commissioners for Budget and Planning, Mr Samuel Egube; chairman, Presidential Economic Advisory Council, Dr Doyin Salami; Executive Vice-Chairman, Emerging Africa Group, Mrs Toyin Sanni and an agricultural consultant, Professor Funsho Sonaiya, were the speakers at the Redeemers’ Men Fellowship Economic Conference organised by The Redeemed Christian Church of God, Region 19.
The event, with the theme, “Disrupted, Resilience, Rebuilding and Recovering,” featured the presentations of the speakers as it addressed Nigeria’s economic outlook, financing, transport and logistics, agriculture and value chains, among others.
Pastor-in-charge of Region 19, Pastor Brown Oyitso, noted that the theme has become part of the people’s daily lives, “especially in recent times when we have faced unprecedented challenges. The global pandemic, climate changes, social and political upheaval and technological advancement have disrupted our lives in ways we could never have imagined. But in the face of these challenges, we have also witnessed the power of human resilience, and the determination to build and recover.”
Going forward as a nation, he called on all to “continue to be resilient, creative, and determined as we work to rebuild and recover from these challenges, let us use this opportunity to build a better future for ourselves and for generations to come. With faith, pursuit, perseverance, and persistence we will doubtless recover.”
The Region 19 RMF Coordinator, Pastor Amos Emovon, said that the conference was an opportunity for participants to learn from experience and insights and to explore new strategies and solutions for rebuilding and recovering these disruptions.
“The conference offers a wealth of benefits for participants, including knowledge sharing, networking, inspiration, skill-building, and exposure to new ideas and technologies,” he added.
Dr Salami addressed opportunities in Nigeria post transition. He noted that going forward, Nigeria critically needs investment capital, but is capital deficient.
According to him, Nigeria is poised for reform, that “critical fiscal situation necessitates the embrace of private capital.”
“The key macroeconomic imperative for Nigeria’s growth and stability is how to raise the investment intensiveness, by mobilizing both domestic and foreign capital.”
He added that Nigeria needs to raise investment/GDP ratio from current levels into the 25 per cent to 30 per cent range. “The most basic measure of financial depth, Broad Money relative to GDP, stands at a mere 23 per cent, compared to, say, 74 per cent in South Africa. The NSE (combined asset classes) is only 23% of GDP” he said.
On energy poverty and transition imperatives he said the projection is to achieve 30GW of power by 2030, with renewable contributing 30 per cent to the electricity grid; Gas being deployed as ‘transition fuel’.
Mr Egube noted that Nigeria has huge potential to become a global economic powerhouse. According to him, “Young population can be upskilled to boost productivity and create high value products and services.”
Professor Sonaiya, made a presentation on Post-Covid Investment opportunities in the Agriculture Value Chain. He noted that investment opportunities towards efficiency and sufficiency are in Transport and Storage (Logistics), Trade, Retail and E-Commerce.
Speaking on funding your dreams, Mrs Sanni noted that dreams are precise imaginative insight into a desired future, adding that dreams turn imagination into reality.
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