The Federal Government initiated discussions on Monday to devise concrete strategies aimed at enhancing non-oil revenue streams as the country navigates both domestic and international economic pressures.
This is part of efforts to diversify the economy and reduce dependence on oil revenues.
The talks is holding at the ongoing 5th edition of the National Treasury workshop in Abuja, organised by the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation with the theme: “Nigeria’s Revenue Challenges and the Way Forward: Exploring Non-Oil Alternatives”.
At the meeting, Wale Edun, Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the economy, emphasised that recent global shifts in energy policies, coupled with declining oil demand and volatile crude prices, underscored the urgent need for Nigeria to reduce its reliance on oil revenues.
“We must embrace a diversified economic approach that taps into the immense potential of non-oil sectors such as agriculture, solid minerals, manufacturing, tourism, digital economy and creative industries,” Edun stated.
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President Bola Tinubu’s Government is targeting revenue generation exceeding N40 trillion to fund Federal Government’s unprecedented N54.99 trillion budget, recently approved by the National Assembly.
Despite skepticism about meeting revenue projections, Edun emphasised that the Government would be implementing significant reforms to enhance non-oil revenue collection.
These efforts include modernising public financial management, digitising revenue collection systems, and fortifying tax administration.
However, poor infrastructure and high cost of doing business; bureaucratic bottlenecks and regulatory inefficiencies; insecurity and its impact on investment confidence; as well as low tax compliance and widespread revenue leakages remain challenges.
He said the theme of the worship underscored the urgent need to rethink revenue generation strategies, especially in light of the volatile nature of oil revenues which has long been the backbone of Nigeria’s economy, now facing a downturn.
“Nigeria is blessed with abundant natural and human resources that remain largely untapped.
“The question before us today is: how can we harness these resources effectively to drive sustainable economic growth and development?” Edun added.
He cited several non-oil sectors, like and agro-processing, solid minerals and mining, manufacturing and industrialisation, tourism and hospitality, digital economy and ICT, among others, which had demonstrated strong potential for revenue generation, job creation, and economic transformation.
“It is time to explore these aggressively. More needs to be done, and the insights gathered from this workshop will be instrumental in shaping further policy directions,” Edun stressed.
Oluwatoyin Madein, Accountant General of the Federation (AGF), said exchange rate volatility, low revenue performance, rising costs, among others, had complicated fiscal operations in the last few years, necessitating the talks.
Discussions will focus on revenue challenges and the urgency for economic diversification; tax reform and revenue mobilisation: diversifying the economy through effective budgeting; rethinking revenue allocation formula; and updates on how public finance reforms have impacted fiscal management.
Madein said that the outcome of the discussions would be built into policies and programmers to enhance revenue generation and prudent allocation of scarce resources to the various sectors.
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