At the 2019 presidential dialogue on the economy organised by the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), Adeniyi Adebayo, minister of trade, investment and industry, who represented the president and vice president, said border closure was initiated to achieve security and position Nigeria to reap full benefit of the recently signed African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCTA) agreement.
“The border closure is a security issue and the action has been taken to enable security agencies of government to secure our nation. What the government is trying to achieve is that at the point when the borders are eventually opened, Nigeria will not be a dumping ground upon AfCTA’s implementation,” Adebayo said.
In his view, the closure of the border is a way the Nigerian government is preparing for AfCTA agreements to make manufacturers competitive.
The border closure has seen about a 33 percent increase in the price of rice and increased smuggling, amongst other consequences. It was a major issue of concern raised at the dialogue.
According to Babatunde Paul Ruwase, president of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry, closure of the land borders has enormous implications for cross border economic activities around the country.
“The indications are now that the closure is indefinite. While we share the concern of government on issues of security and smuggling, we believe that the indefinite closure of land borders is not the solution to the problem,” he said.
With short-term outlook of key economic indicators not looking bright, with Nigeria being largely dependent on oil sector which is volatile, analysts cannot but stress the importance of market-moving reforms in the economy.
Other issues raised during the dialogue were huge infrastructure deficit in the country, policies that stiffle big organisations in the auto industry, the need to diversify and reduce importation of commodities Nigeria can produce, unsigned CAMA bill by the president, among others.
While the federal government has churned out policies to spur growth in the economy, experts suggest that these policies may be dead on arrival if the government doesn’t interact with private sector players to understand the challenge and how best to solve it.
“The message is that regular engagement with relevant stakeholders in the various sectors will bring a lot of value. The regulatory environment needs to align with this vision as well. This policy dialogue is our contribution to this process,” Ruwase added.
While analysts have commended the efforts of President Buhari on instituting the Economic Advisory Council (EAC) headed by Doyin Salami, a renowned economist, stakeholders across sector plead that the government should listen and implement recommendations from the EAC.
DAVID IBIDAPO
