Former Mexican president says Nigeria can rule the world economically

Vincente Fox, for¬mer president of Mexico, has disclosed that Africa, especial¬ly Nigeria, would rule the world economically if there were proper harnessing of re¬sources, integration of various institutions and responsive leadership among other eco¬nomic factors that could bring sustainable development. He said it was time for Nigeria to erupt economically. Vox, who was apparently speaking from the point of view of MINT economic bloc at the second Ogun State Investors’ Forum in Abeo¬kuta, on Wednesday, also requested Nigeria and Ogun State to develop strategic planning anchored on vision, mission and effective collabo¬ration of public and private sectors that can translate into growth of frontier market. The former president of Mexico submitted that devel¬opment of agriculture-based modern technology and exploring of the opportunities in the area where the country has competitive advantage will improve the well-being of the citizens, adding that “only eco¬nomic growth and creation of wealth can eliminate poverty.” He said, “I do not have any doubt that in the 21st century Africa will now be the suc¬cour continent in the future and you will be one of the powerful engines that is going to move the world economy. “This is what I can per¬ceive at this hour, you all are leaders and leaders have very special and strong pow¬er within that comes from information, knowledge that comes from conviction from passion to accomplish great things, this is what is going to guide this continent to be that new engine of the world. “This nation Nigeria, the unity of all Africa, should be the dream to move energy, talent and resources the right direction but at the same time it is indispensable, it is a strategy, the effort of each unit in the region that will bring up competition. “We have the potentials to be a developed nation, have the great advantage to learn from wise men, to learn from success stories; we do not have to do what others are doing be¬cause it will have to take so long to move from basic economy, agriculture, mining, oil into a manufacturing economy. “It shouldn’t take us that long to move from manufac¬turing economy into knowl¬edge economy which is the economy that generates world modern wealth. Fortunately, the advantage we have is the strong backup in resources that can generate enough resources to move into the next stages. “We must associate with private investors, private cor¬porate world in order to create jobs and move away from the government capacity; we have to make the best use of our land resources, to make the best use of the natural resources that we have in this nation of Nigeria. So, association with private investment is a must. “So we have to make best use of public private partner¬ship, today you can build a dam with private resources as long as there is a return to the partnership or organisa¬tion in building the capacity to safe the money, the budget that we can invest in building human capital, that we can invest in education, invest in providing health to every citizen, so we must associate with private investment.” “When we associated with United States, many people were afraid that Mex¬ico will not be able to compete with the agricultural capacity of the United States, that we will not have the technology, we will not have the machin¬ery to be able to compete. But let me tell you today, Mexico provides up to 70% of all fruits that are consumed in US mar¬ket, and this means we have created a lot of jobs for Mexi¬cans because the production is labour-intensive.” Delivering his address at the investors’ forum tagged ‘Agriculture and Urban De¬velopment: Ogun State…The New Frontiers’, Governor Ibikunle Amosun disclosed that the state economic ap¬proach was not only holistic but also futuristic. He said the state was ready to ex¬plore all available economic means to achieve all round sustainable development.