This week I am leading Nigeria’s delegation to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) Ministerial Conference in Nairobi, Kenya. It ismy first WTO engagement as Nigeria’s minister of industry, trade and investment since I was sworn in by President Muhammadu Buhari on November 11.
That this is the first time an African country will be hosting the meeting underscores the growing relevance of Africa to the global economy, and serves as a challenge to Nigeria, not only Africa’s most populous country but also its largest economy, to demonstrate greater leadership on the continent and on behalf of it. Nigeria will be making a case for greater attention to the needs and concerns of the most vulnerable countries in the WTO. We are also concerned about the existing distortions in global agricultural trade, to the detriment of developing countries like Nigeria. We remain fully committed to the principles of the global multilateral trading system, a point we will be reiterating at the plenary sessions and bilateral meetings that will take place in Nairobi.
There have been concerns in recent months, amid WTO members, about some of Nigeria’s recent monetary policy decisions relating to foreign exchange provisions for imports. The new administration in Nigeria is aware of these concerns, and is working to ensure that all available perspectives are taken into consideration, and competing needs and agendas balanced. The goal, of course, is to align monetary and fiscal policies with trade and investment ones; a balance that is not always an easy one, as recent decisions have demonstrated.
It is important to realise that these are extraordinary times for Nigeria, with an unprecedented transfer of federal power coinciding with one of the most challenging fiscal periods in the country’s recent history. Oil prices, on which we depend for 90 percent of foreign exchange earnings, dropped by half in 2014, and are now at their lowest levels in seven years. The impact on our imports bills, currency values, and foreign exchange reserves has been substantial.
But it is also a time of extraordinary opportunity, for us as a government, and as a country. The oil price crisis offers us the chance to break our long-term dependence on oil, and commit to diversifying the economy. Currently, Nigeria accounts for 2.5 percent of the world’s population, but contributes less than 0.6 percent of global trade. We can certainly do better on this score. We stand to benefit significantly from improving our trade, especially within the ECOWAS region, with other West African countries.
We are a nation of traders and entrepreneurs; around the world Nigerians are renowned for their entrepreneurial energy. According to the 2014 Global Entrepreneurship Monitor Report, 52.7 percent of Nigeria’s youth population are entrepreneurs, owning new or established businesses. And the most recent Global Entrepreneur Indicator (GEI) survey found that 100 percent of Nigerian respondents signified strong optimism about the country’s economic future, as well as enthusiasm about starting new businesses based on that optimism.
A survey by the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) and the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) in 2010 found that there were 17.28 million Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in the country, collectively accounting for almost half of Nigeria’s GDP, as many as four times what the capital-intensive oil and gas industry contributes to GDP. In other words, if you want to get an accurate sense of what the future of Nigeria looks like, you’d be better off looking at where the energies and intellect of our people are being deployed, not its oil reserves.
Acknowledging the challenges facing us is the obvious starting point for effecting change. Shortly after taking office, President Buhari noted that Nigeria is “virtually back at Ground Zero as far as industrial development is concerned”. Reversing this will not happen overnight, and certainly will not happen without the political will to effect the small and large reforms necessary.
I am delighted that both the president and vice president have promised their total support for all initiatives aimed at bringing change on all the needed levels. The goal of the president’s change agenda, with regard to trade and investment, is a Nigeria in which it is easy for entrepreneurs, investors, and industries to operate and do business; a country in which the legal system, the banks, and the governments are all working together in favour of the economy.
The Federal Inland Revenue Service, under new leadership appointed by President Buhari, has simplified the tax process by significantly reducing the number of tax form pages. The Customs Service, also under new leadership, is streamlining its processes and procedures, and working to root out corruption and leverage technology to improve transparency and facilitate trade. And, earlier this year in Lagos, Nigeria’s largest state economy, the state government consolidated its body of disparate land laws into a single piece of legislation, accompanied by a clearer regime of taxes and fees. In 2016, the federal government plans to spend, on infrastructure, three times as much as was budgeted this year. In the months ahead we will be drawing attention to all these new initiatives, all aimed at sending a clear message that Nigeria is open and ready for business and investment.
The work ahead will also involve a lot of collaboration with my colleagues in other ministries and government agencies, as they unveil their plans to attract investment to their various sectors. We will collaborate with the NBS to ensure that investors have access to high quality data to improve decision-making.
Together as a government we all have a common mandate: to create jobs, reduce poverty, and provide an environment that nurtures the dreams and ambitions of all individuals and businesses. On the part of my ministry, our role is to contribute to this mandate by doing everything we can to attract and sustain domestic and foreign investment – with a special focus on the non-oil economy – and to remove the barriers to doing business in and with Nigeria.
Okechukwu Enelamah
Enelamah is Nigeria’s Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment.
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