LCCI meeting: Experts proffer sustainable economic recovery solutions

CEO of Economic Associates, Ayo Teriba, has advised the Federal Government to open up the economy to foreign direct investment to get Nigeria out of economic recession and keep it on the path of sustainable economic growth.
Teriba stated this at a breakfast session of the Financial Services Group of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) with the theme: Economic recovery and growth plan: Roadmap to a sustainable economy held in Lagos, recently. Sterling Bank was the headline sponsor of the session.
Teriba, who spoke on Nigeria’s economic outlook: Getting out of recession cycle as a keynote speaker, advised the Federal Government to open up the economy to foreign investors. “There is need to open up Nigeria to receive massive foreign investments just like Saudi Arabia and India. This will unlock vast and latent opportunities in the country,” he said.
He also urged the Federal Government to sustain its recent issuance of 1.5 Eurobond and must plan to issue a Diaspora bond, and also called on the Central Bank of Nigeria to complement the Federal Government’s effort by issuing Eurobond to ensure stability in the foreign exchange market.
In her welcome address, Mojisola Bakare, chairperson of the group and general manager, corporate banking, Sterling Banking, said they were keen on the resolution of issues affecting Nigeria’s economic development, remarking that it had become necessary to discuss the theme of the breakfast session.
According to Bakare, the capital market is also on the upward swing though at a slow pace coupled with renewed effort of the Federal Government on the ease of doing business, adding that “Generally, the other economic indices are pointing towards our exit from recession by September 2017 as predicted by the World Bank.”
Also speaking, president of LCCI, Nike Akande, noted that with the Nigerian economy highly import dependent, consumption driven and undiversified, it had become necessary for government to draw a roadmap for economic diversification that would drive sustainable growth and development.
Akande, who was represented by the deputy president, Babatunde Ruwase, also remarked that it had also become imperative for the government to create initiatives that would restore growth, a competitive economy and provide an enabling business environment that would empower the private sector in delivering its mandate towards the actualisation of the EGRP.

 

UGOCHUKWU AKOBI