Merit Ibe
Chief Economist of PricehouseWaterCooper (PwC), Dr. Andrew Nevin, has urged the Federal Government to unlock its dead assets to move the economy forward.
Nevin, who made the disclosure in Lagos, said PWC Nigeria has been pressing for government to mark the dead gap, as there are many assets that are not really delivering to the country. He noted that some parastatals that are underremitting like the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), and others areslowing down the growth of the economy. He also cited assets like the Ajaokuta Steel Company and refineries as draining the nation’s resources.
Nevin pointed out that private assets, particularly in Rivers State that are locked up needed to be revived to speed up growth.
Posing a central question to the Federal Government and all levels of government on why the global business community is not investing in Nigeria he said. Why are Diasporans and outsiders not investing in Nigeria of today? According to him, until this conundrum is solved, the nation cannot fast track its GDP growth. According to him, the PWC has always advocated that Nigeria needs structural change to be able to increase its GDP, adding “we need to grow on 60 per cent inclusive sustainable way, but that requires a much higher level of investment.”
Governement needs to continue the reforms on the ease of doing business, so as to allow investment to come from domestic and foreign sources.
Applauding the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) as highly skilled in its management of the monetary policy to rave up the battered economy, the economist said the apex bank was doing well in managing its part of the economy, but noted that it cannot solve the problem alone as “we need more structural changes and the ease of doing business changes to make Nigeria achieve its potential.
“The CBN has always been a technical manager of the monetary policy, highly skilled in its technical issues as we have seen in its MPC rate by a 100 bases point, which is probably helpful, but on its own there is a limit to how much monetary policy can do.”