Nigeria’ll be counted among 16 largest global economies soon if…—Osinbajo
By virtue of Nigeria and Nigerians natural hardwork laced by unity in diversity, Nigeria will move fast to becoming one of the 16 largest economies in the world.
This was the observation of the acting president, Prof Yemi Osinbajo, on Tuesday at the palace of the Emir of Gusau, Alhaji Ibrahim Bello.
This is as PwC has projected Nigeria economy to emerge the 14th largest economy in the world by 2050, with the GDP in Market Exchange Rate terms at $3.3tn.
However, it said “To deliver sustainable growth with per capita gains, Nigeria will need to aggressively boost domestic and foreign investments over the next decade”.
Osinbajo who was on a one-day working visit to Zamfara State, argued that both qualities which are in abundance are paramount to the economic growth of the country.
The new report released by PwC said, “Perhaps the most evident impact of the sharp decline in the oil price was in the currency market, with the naira/dollar depreciating by 35.4 per cent in the official market and 47.3 per cent in the parallel market during the year.
“Aside from the depreciation in the currency, the illiquidity in the foreign exchange market impacted the business and investment environment, with Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) declining to an 11-year low, and a collapse in investment as a share of the GDP to 12.6 per cent – the lowest level in the past two decades.
“The recent string of economic releases suggests that the economy might have bottomed out, with fragile signs of recovery, driven largely by improved liquidity in the foreign exchange markets and policy measures to improve the business environment. Admittedly, the fiscal narrative is unchanged as lower for longer oil price means that traditional sources of financing for Nigeria’s budgetary needs will remain stretched. Nigeria is projected to be the third largest populated country in the world by 2050 with 399 million people.”
The acting President further averred that “Our diversity as a people united is also our potential to transform our large deposits of mineral resources and use same for national development.”
The acting president the commended the effort of security agencies in the country in maintaining law and order.
While receiving the acting president, Bello thanked him for accepting all invitations to the state, adding: “You are now a son of the soil.”
The emir commended the Federal Government for deploying security men to maintain peace in Zamfara.
He said since the deployment gunmen attacks, cattle rustling and kidnapping which threatened communities had become history.
The acting president was accompanied on the visit by the governors of Kebbi and Sokoto states, Alhaji Abubakar Bagudu and Aminu Tambuwal respectively.
