The Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr Okechukwu Enelamah has
\nsaid that Nigeria\u2019s ongoing economic challenges offer an unprecedented
\nopportunity to restructure and diversify the economy.<\/p>\n
Speaking on Tuesday on Channels Television\u2019s Sunrise Programme, the
\nMinister said, \u201cI believe that depending on what we do with this crisis
\nwe\u2019re facing, it could actually be the impetus for this diversification.
\nIt\u2019s extremely important that we make the most of what we\u2019re going
\nthrough.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Minister highlighted the Ministry\u2019s commitment to implementing the
\nNigeria Industrial Revolution Plan (NIRP), as a tool for diversifying the
\nNigerian economy. \u201cThat Plan identifies sectors where Nigeria should be
\ndoing more, but for reasons that are well understood, we haven’t. Our
\nresponsibility as a Ministry is to make sure that Plan is implemented;
\nfrom Agro-processing to the automotive industry; Cotton, Textile and
\nGarments; and Petrochemicals \u2013 the sectors around which we have a
\ncomparative advantage.”<\/p>\n
Speaking on some other reform efforts, Dr Enelamah highlighted the
\nMinistry\u2019s Ease of Doing Business Initiative. \u201cThe President has directed
\nthat we set up a Council, the Presidential Enabling Business Environment
\nCouncil (PEBEC), chaired by the Vice President, and that is focused
\nmajorly on making Nigeria more attractive for investment. A lot of work
\nhas gone on behind closed doors. The Nigeria Investment Promotion
\nCommission (NIPC) is going to be the Secretariat. We\u2019ve said that in the
\nfirst year we want to move at least 20 spots ahead on the World Bank\u2019s
\nEase of Doing Business rankings. We have identified a private sector Lead,
\nwho will be announced soon, who is going to be the head of this Ease of
\nDoing Business Forum. We\u2019ve also identified private sector firms that are
\nexperts in it, and we\u2019ve identified someone who led it in another country
\n\u2013 Georgia \u2013 he’s a former Prime Minister, who\u2019s come to help us. I\u2019m
\nconfident we\u2019ll get results.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dr Enelamah also touched on the Ministry\u2019s commitment to SMEs,
\nhighlighting the new microcredit scheme in the 2016 budget, which will see
\nthe Bank of Industry, one of the Ministry’s parastatals, overseeing the
\ndisbursement of loans to 1.6 million traders, artisans, farmers and young
\nentrepreneurs over the next twelve months.<\/p>\n
He stressed that the current government takes policy stability and
\nconsistency very seriously. \u201cWe haven’t done the classic policy
\nflip-flops. The things that are [already existing] we have said we will
\nimplement them better. For instance the Nigeria Industrial Revolution Plan
\n(NIRP), which is something that we inherited from the last government.
\nAlso what the NIPC is doing for investors.\u201d The Ministry, he added, is
\nalso focused on ensuring “that only genuine manufacturers enjoy” already
\nexisting import and export concessions.<\/p>\n
Dr. Enelamah called for patience and understanding from Nigerians. \u201cIt
\ntakes time for these things to take root. There is a time for
\nimplementation and a time for results. My view is that Nigeria is
\ndefinitely going to get better; in the area of diversification of the
\neconomy, and of investors coming in, it will happen.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr Okechukwu Enelamah has said that Nigeria\u2019s ongoing economic challenges offer an unprecedented opportunity to restructure and diversify the economy. Speaking on Tuesday…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":52110,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-52109","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n