Nigeria’s federal government has announced plans to raise up to $10 billion as part of immediate strategies to bring liquidity to the foreign exchange market and strengthen the naira.
President Tinubu disclosed this at the inaugural Public Wealth Management Conference organised by the Ministry of Finance Incorporated (MOFI) on Tuesday in Abuja.
“More recently, the Federal Government of Nigeria has set a goal to raise at least $10 billion to increase foreign exchange liquidity, a key ingredient to stabilise the naira and grow the economy.
“ At the heart of these goals is that we must be able to mobilise resources to achieve these goals and do so urgently,” Tinubu who was represented at the event by Vice President Kashm Shettima stated.
In his keynote address, he noted that the 8-point agenda of his administration kick-started the journey of renewed centered on making economic revitalization a top priority – central to this is ensuring optimal management of the Federal Government’s assets and investments towards unlocking their revenue potential.
This, he recalled includes plan to double GDP growth from 3.5% to 7% and increase the GDP base to $1 Trillion.
Three key priorities are at the forefront of this agenda, according to him – firstly to focus on increasing economic growth by investing in key sectors such as agriculture, manufacturing, and technology; secondly working to create more jobs for Nigerians, particularly for young people and women; and thirdly, attracting more investment capital Imo the country to support growth and development.
But one low-hanging fruit to urgently mobilise intended resources is for government to identify, enumerate, rationalise, and optimise the Federal Government investment assets and ensure that they deliver maximum value for Nigerians.
Nigeria’s public wealth is vast and diverse, encompassing everything from our infrastructure and real estate assets to our energy and financial assets. These assets are worth trillions of naira and are spread across every corner of our great nation – from the bustling cities to the rural countryside and beyond borders.
However, for decades, government has not had accurate records or a consolidated register of these assets scattered across hundreds of agencies, a situation which has resulted in gross underutilization, mismanagement and loss of revenues running into trillions that could have been used for development.
But the president was optimistic that the renewed mandate and restructuring of MOFI now presents a new chapter focused on harnessing our public wealth more strategically for growth.
According to him, MOFI’s role as custodian and active manager of Federal Government investments now places it at the epicenter of the country’s economic development agenda.
“With the expertise, transparency and accountability that MOFI brings, I am confident public assets will now deliver significantly higher returns through avenues like improved corporate governance, innovative private partnerships, and attracting alternative investment capital.
“Higher returns from public enterprises will provide crucial funding for education, healthcare, housing, power, roads and other areas vital to lifting millions out of poverty. We will stimulate sectors with high growth multipliers to maximize job creation for our youth,” the president assured.
He however observed that the MOFI mandate is not just about increasing government revenues, but more importantly, optimizing public asset performance which will then catalyze inclusive sustainable growth that creates jobs and prosperity as well as boost much needed funding for critical enablers like power, roads, healthcare, education and housing.
He then urged all stakeholders to constructively partner with MOFI on this journey to optimize the performance of our strategic assets and unlock Nigeria’s full potential.
