Abuja Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI) has urged the Federal Government to diversify the nation’s economy, to reclaim Nigeria’s position as Africa’s biggest economy.
Tony Ejinkeonye, ACCI President, gave the advice while reacting to the report that rated South Africa as the continent’s biggest economy by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
IMF used the Gross Domestic Product in its 2015 report published by the Bloomberg to rate the South African economy.
The report stated that the size of South Africa’s economy was 301 billion dollars at the rand’s current exchange rate, while Nigeria’s GDP was at 296 billion dollars.
Bloomberg noted that the rand gained more than 16 percent against the U.S. currency since the start of 2016, while Nigeria’s naira, in contrast, had lost more than a third of its value since the CBN adopted the flexible exchange rate regime.
Ejinkeonye urged the government to be more aggressive with diversification of the economy.
“We know that the Nigerian government is already taking steps to kick-start economic growth in the long run.
“But there is need to be more aggressive with diversification of the economy with consistent progressive and timely policies.
“Government must encourage policies that will attract foreign investment inflow while giving priority to policies that will reduce the pressure on demand for foreign exchange,’’ Ejinkeonye said.
According to the ACCI boss, the root of Nigeria’s predicament is basically the crash in oil prices on the international market for a country that is oil-dependent.
Ejinkeonye said the persistent scarcity of foreign exchange had forced some businesses to go under, resulting in job losses while the country’s depleted foreign reserves could not provide a cushion for the current crisis. (NAN)
Join BusinessDay whatsapp Channel, to stay up to date
Open In Whatsapp
