By Chinwendu Obienyi
The President, PEARL Awards, Nigeria, Tayo Orekoya, has said that consistent policies and adequate infrastructure will lift Nigeria out of recession.
Speaking during the 2017 PEARL Awards press briefing in Lagos, yesterday, Orekoya said although there has been some improvement in contrast to last year’s economic recession, the nation is still bugged by inconsistent policies and inadequate infrastructure, adding that if Nigeria is to get out of recession in the next two quarters, the government has to provide adequate infrastructure and etch out consistent policies.
“To a large extent, we have improved a little compared with last year, though we are not yet out of the woods. Looking back at last year, the GDP was at a very negative position. However, we are beginning to see some form of improvement. We still have challenges with infrastructure, especially power, as it has not significantly improved as much as we want it to.
“I believe that with policy consistency and infrastructure, especially if there is power, small and medium enterprises can add value to the economy and I think we can only get better if we can get our policies right,” he stressed.
He further said, “a situation where today this is the policy and there is a change in policy tomorrow does not augur well as you cannot expect people to have confidence and I think the major issue with our market now is confidence to invest in the capital market these days.”
On the reason why the PEARL Awards was cancelled last year, Orekoya said it was stepped down due to the vagaries in the economy resulting in unimpressive performance of a good number of quoted companies as reported in their audited financial reports.