Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala held up a sponge cake representing the Gross Domestic Product to an audience of amused officials on Monday, as she sought to rebuff critics who say<\/p>\n
Nigeria\u2019s strong economic growth has failed to lift millions out of poverty.<\/p>\n
Likening Nigeria to a household, she urged the country to focus on the government\u2019s plan to become one of the world\u2019s top 20 economies by 2020, which she said would be crucial to solving its other problems like high unemployment and poverty. It would mean doubling the current growth rate to 13 percent, she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cHaving this cake does not mean that every problem in your household is solved,\u201d she said, holding up a sponge with figurines of a family on it, at a televised conference.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut you have one wife and three children and \u2026 if you have only this cake you\u2019re going to be suffering. You want this cake to grow,\u201d she added, swapping the sponge for a much bigger one, prompting a wave of laughter.<\/p>\n
Reuters says foreign bond and equity investors are taking a growing interest in Africa\u2019s second biggest economy, and President Goodluck Jonathan\u2019s decision to bring Okonjo-Iweala back to Nigeria from her World Bank job in 2011 was well received.<\/p>\n
But she has had a mixed reception at home, with some politicians complaining she is too aloof and technocratic.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala held up a sponge cake representing the Gross Domestic Product to an audience of amused officials on Monday, as she sought to rebuff critics who say…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2867,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14308","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive"],"yoast_head":"\n