AACS Fortnightly
(Mondays)
10th April 2023

From the Chairman’s Desk,

Setting The Economic Agenda (Part 2)

4. Oil Theft – The nation’s share of the OPEC group global oil quota is 1.8m barrels per day, yet it struggles to produce around 1.1m barrels. Oil theft and vandalism continues to hinder production capacity and limit revenue. This is unsustainable. There must be a will to deal with this issue, and seek support of the host communities while government ramps up support to those communities to attract more infrastructure that would improve their lives significantly

5. Infrastructure – The African Development Bank (AfDB) estimates that the Nigerian infrastructure deficit is $100bn per year, and $3trn will need to be spent over the next 30 years to meet development targets. The key infrastructure that needs attention is Power, and fixing it is key. Virtually all industries are dependent on diesel powered electricity, and this constitutes a huge cost that is borne by consumers. It has also greatly reduced the capacity of small businesses to grow and create jobs for the teeming youths.

6. Security – This is the ‘whale’ in the room, and very little can be done to ramp up productive activity in the economy if we don’t deal with this. We also limit the possibility of attracting the much needed foreign direct investments that the nation needs, and is comparatively placed to receive in Africa. Save the tech industry and the unicorns, not enough is coming in, and the potential is ideally very good because of the market availability and the vast human & material resources.

When we attend to these six issues listed, we would have rebuilt the fundamental base of our economy, the nation, and its citizens will stand to reap huge dividends. As seen in the victory of Nigeria’s UFC superstar, Israel Adesanya over his nemesis, Alex Pereira of Brazil, you can never count out a determined person who is prepared to put the necessary work in.

Falil Ayo Abina

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