Nigeria should hand over its refineries and other commercially viable projects to the private sector in order to reduce debts and earn more revenue from the assets, according to a consultancy firm PwC.
PwC also asked the country to prepare for the future by investing more in human capital development in order to position its citizens as exportable ‘products’ and boost diaspora remittances.
Africa Tax and Legal Services Leader, PwC Nigeria, Taiwo Oyedele, who spoke at a webinar in Lagos said the government should be more concerned about strategic issues bothering the economy than approving projects and contracts that might turn out to be unprofitable.
“I have my issues with the Federal Executive Council (FEC) that is just approving projects and contracts when we should be looking at more strategic issues to deal with in the economy.
“I do think that the amount of money we are spending on projects that are commercially unviable is unbelievable.
“Just yesterday, the approval for the turnaround of refineries for billions of dollars was given. These are refineries where we have recorded over N100 billion in losses and produce zero barrel of refined products.
“If we have given these refineries for free to the private sector, Nigeria would have been better off compared to close to N10 billion that we spend every month maintaining and running assets that are not producing.
“If we take something like rails, refining and the ports that are commercially viable and give to the private sector, they will bring money from within and outside Nigeria. They will do them better.
“They will make money. They will run them efficiently and pay taxes to the government. This is what we should do. It will not only reduce our debt and the cost of servicing them, it will also increase the overall efficiency of the economy.”
Oyedele also said Nigeria should be leading the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) negotiation as the largest economy in Africa
“We complain over poor infrastructure, but Nigeria is largely a service-driven economy and should be more concerned about how to improve services and export them to the rest of Africa,” he stated.
“The top import in Africa is petroleum products. Why can’t Nigeria refine and export to the rest of Africa?”