Nigeria Launches Agenda 2050 to Achieve Top Middle-Income Status by 2050

Nigeria has launched its Agenda 2050, a policy document aimed at placing the country among the top middle-income economies in the world by 2050.

The launch was made by the country’s President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday, in Abuja.

The Nigeria Agenda 2050 seeks to attain a per capita GDP of $33,328 per annum and increase real GDP growth by seven percent. It aims to create 165 million new jobs and reduce the number of Nigerians living in poverty to 2.1 million in 2050 from the 83 million estimated in 2020.

The launch occurred shortly before this week’s Federal Executive Council meeting held at the Council Chambers of the Presidential Villa, Abuja. It comes about seven weeks after FEC approved the policy document on March 15 and nearly three months after the National Economic Council endorsed the agenda.

Speaking at the launch, President Buhari said, “The plan we are launching today has a vision of a dynamic, industrialised and knowledge-based economy that generates inclusive and sustainable development for the country.”

He expressed confidence that the plan would be useful for successive administrations in delivering their electoral promises. The President had inaugurated the National Steering Committee to prepare the Medium-Term National Development Plan 2021 – 2025 and Nigeria Agenda 2050 in September 2020.

The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, who also heads the National Steering Committee, stated that implementing the plan would be a participatory, consultative, and inclusive process.

Ahmed said the plan would address the country’s subsisting economic and social challenges, including low, fragile, and non-inclusive growth, insecurity, high population growth rate, limited concentric economic diversification, and low productivity.

The bulk of the investment is expected to be financed by the private sector, while total employment is expected to rise to 203.41 million in 2050 from 46.49 million in 2020. This implies that unemployment will drop significantly to 6.3 percent in 2050 from 33.3 percent in 2020. The number of people in poverty is expected to drop to 2.1 percent by 2050 from 83 million in 2020.

The launch of the Nigeria Agenda 2050 marks a significant step towards the country’s economic transformation. It is hoped that the plan’s implementation will bring about sustainable development and a better future for all Nigerians.