Economy

Ezekwesili Calls for National Dialogue on Poverty

Published

7 years ago

October 13, 2017

Ezekwesili Calls for National Dialogue on Poverty

A former Minister of Education, Mrs. Oby Ezekwesili, has called for an urgent national dialogue to discuss the problems of exclusion and poverty in the country.

Speaking at a plenary session at the Nigeria Economic Summit, which ended in Abuja on Thursday, the former World Bank Vice President for Africa said talks on political restructuring must go beyond agreements usually reached by politicians and be inclusive of all Nigerians.

Ezekwesili stated that it was important for the government and people of Nigeria to develop a fair sense of urgency, end the culture of diplomacy around failure and interrogate why the country had been failing.

She said, “We are now at the region I call unsustainability of failure. This failure cannot be sustained. The fair sense of urgency that must underpin the way we are looking at the challenges we are dealing with should factor into the speed with which we are identifying the obstacles to our growth, development and our shared prosperity.

“This country is ripe for a conversation but the conversation must be about the economics of a functional Nigeria because a Nigeria that functions economically is a Nigeria that gives everybody a stake in it.

“When people feel a sense of stake, there is no exclusion. When people feel a sense of stake, it basically mobilises everyone to the level of productivity that it can generate. For as long as we don’t do this, what we would have is occasional improvement; and we think we are fine, but look at our data.”

She added, “Our data tell us that three to four million young people enter the unemployment market every year; only 10 per cent of them will be absorbed. The economy is not expanding enough. Even in the season of high growth, it was structurally shifting enough to absorb that kind of population.

“Our data tell us that compared to a country like Singapore at more than 92 per cent of literacy (what you call the knowledge quotient), we are at a level of about 52 per cent. There is such a wide gap. Without that knowledge quotient of stock of people with knowledge, it is going to be difficult to make this country as productive as it should be.

“You look at what we have produced with all the factors that we have available to us, the growth that comes with the factors and frontiers of possibilities that we have, it gives a GDP per capita of about $2,400, compared that to perhaps Singapore, which is at almost $60,000. Then, you say to yourself; these factors that create this divide, can they not be addressed? That is where the conversation becomes absolutely necessary.”

She further stated, “The colour of the woman who is deprived an opportunity in Borno State is the same colour of poverty of the man in Bayelsa State or the young girl in Nnewi or the elderly woman in Ibadan. So, if we look at over 100 million Nigerians who could be lifted out of poverty still being in poverty, we cannot at all not have a sense of urgency.

“The fair sense of urgency will mean that we discuss even the most painful of it. We must discuss our failure. This failure is too bad. The diplomacy around failure must end. We must discuss our failure and why we must stop failing. Then we say, is it better to be building small borders or a large population that works?

“Data tell us that it is better to be a large nation that works. If it were not so, Rwanda would be an amazing economic magnate because on the economic side, they have done a lot of things right but it is still a small economy. It cannot pull it. We can but we must be a country that works.”

“So that conversation as to how to make this country work is a conversation that is not between the private sector and the government. It is a conversation amongst Nigerians – real Nigerians backed by data. Data will drive us to see some of the things that we have been blind to.

“One key thing that we have been blind about is that we actually are at a place of possible advantage in that if we got it right with making the human being – the Nigerian – to be superior to oil; if we defended the Nigerian more than we defended the oil installations and shifted our mind-set towards them, then what we will realise is that Africa can claim the 21st century by significant quantum leap in terms of human capability. We are that country that could become a provocation to the world.”

Ezekwesili, who received loud ovations, also chided economists and the Nigerian Economic Summit Group for keeping silent when the government was making wrong policy choices that led the country to recession that hurt the poor very badly.

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Samed Olukoya

Is the CEO and Founder of Investors King Limited. He is a seasoned foreign exchange research analyst and a published author on Yahoo Finance, Business Insider, Nasdaq, Entrepreneur.com, Investorplace, and other prominent platforms. With over two decades of experience in global financial markets, Olukoya is well-recognized in the industry.

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Economy

Nigeria’s Trade Surplus Hits N6.95 Trillion in Q2 2024, Marking a 33.63% Increase

Published

4 days ago

September 13, 2024

Investors King

Nigeria’s trade surplus, the difference between exports and imports, rose to N6.95 trillion in the second quarter of 2024, according to the latest foreign trade statistics report released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Wednesday.

This marks a 33.63 percent increase from the N5.19 trillion recorded between January to March 2024, bringing the total value at N12.14 trillion in the first half of 2024.

This is however higher than N154.12 billion recorded in the first six months of 2023, the NBS data revealed.

The report showed that the country recorded a positive trade balance for the sixth straight quarter in Q2, signifying key economic development.

A trade surplus occurs when a country’s exports exceed its imports.

Total merchandise trade in Africa’s most populous nation stood at N31.8 trillion in Q2, a decline of 3.76 percent compared to the preceding quarter and a 150.39 percent jump compared to a year ago.

“Exports accounted for 60.89% of total trade with a value of N19,418.93 trillion, showing a marginal increase of 1.31% compared to the value recorded in Q1 2024 (N19,167.36) and a 201.76% rise over the value recorded in the second quarter of 2023 (N6,435.13),” NBS said.

Analysts attributed the surge in exports to the exchange rate depreciation caused by the foreign exchange reform implemented last June.

Tobi Ehinmosan, a fixed income and macroeconomic analyst at Lagos-based FBNQuest Capital, said the major factor for this significant trade surplus numbers is the decline in import trade.

“No doubt, our export performance has been on the rise but then the main driver is the drop in import trade, especially from June 2023 when the exchange rate was floated,” he said.

“A reasonable explanation for the lower import figure is the challenges traders face in sourcing for FX,” Ehinmosan noted, adding that the scarcity of FX has led to lower import of commodities into the country.

Echoing the same sentiment, Michael Adeyemi, an economics lecturer said the surplus suggests a reduction in imports, caused by such factors like currency devaluation or high import costs.

“A trade surplus strengthens the balance of payments, which can help stabilize Nigeria’s currency, the naira,” Adeyemi said.

“It also allows the country to build foreign reserves and pay off international debt obligations more comfortably,” the university lecturer explained.

The naira has tumbled by over 70 percent this year following a two-time devaluation last year. The official exchange rate increased from N463.38/$ on June 9, 2023, to N1.558.7/$ as of September 12, 2024.

At the parallel market, the naira depreciated to over N1,600/$ from 762/$.

Recent data from the International Monetary Fund highlighted that Nigeria’s current account balance, a measure of its net trade in goods, services, and transfers with the rest of the world, rose to $1.43 billion this year from $1.21 billion surplus in 2023.

“A growing current account surplus can be a sign of economic strength, indicating that the country’s industries are competitive internationally and that its exports are in demand,” Ibrahim Bakare, a professor of Economics said.

“It may also lead to an appreciation of the country’s currency, as increased demand for its goods and services boosts the value of its currency relative to others,” he added.

Economy

FIRS VAT Revenue Surges to N1.56 Trillion in Q2 2024 Amid Economic Struggles

Published

6 days ago

September 10, 2024

Samed Olukoya

The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) generated N1.56 trillion in Value Added Tax (VAT) in the second quarter (Q2) of 2024, according to the latest report from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

This represents an increase of 9.11% compared to the N1.43 trillion reported in the first quarter of 2024.

A breakdown of the report showed that local VAT payments accounted for N792.58 billion of the total amount generated, while foreign VAT payments stood at N395.74 billion, and import VAT contributed N372.95 billion.

A quarterly analysis of the report revealed that human health and social work activities recorded the highest growth rate with 98.44%. This was followed by agriculture, forestry, and fishing with 70.26%, and water supply, sewerage, waste management, and remediation activities with 59.75%.

On the other hand, activities of households as employers and undifferentiated goods- and services-producing activities of households for own use had the lowest growth rate with –46.84%, followed by real estate activities with –42.59%.

Sectoral analysis showed that the manufacturing sector contributed the most at 11.78%. Information and communication and mining and quarrying contributed 9.02% and 8.79%, respectively.

Nevertheless, activities of households as employers and undifferentiated goods- and services-producing activities of households for own use recorded the least share with 0.00%, followed by activities of extraterritorial organizations and bodies with 0.01%, and water supply, sewerage, waste management, and remediation activities and real estate services with 0.04% each.

On a year-on-year basis, VAT collections grew by 99.82% from Q2 2023 despite ongoing economic challenges.

Nigeria’s inflation rate remains well above 30 percent, while new job creation is almost nonexistent.

Other key economic factors, such as investor sentiment, the purchasing managers’ index, and consumer spending, remain weak amid intermittent protests by citizens demanding improvements in quality of life.

Economy

Nigeria Sees 9.11% Increase in VAT Revenue, Generating N1.56 Trillion in Q2 2024

Published

1 week ago

September 9, 2024

Investors King

The federal government in the second quarter of 2024 generated a total of N1.56 trillion from Value Added Tax. This is a 9.11 percent increase from the N1.43 trillion in Q1 2024.

According to the National Bureau of Statistics report, local payments recorded were N792.58 billion, foreign VAT payments were N395.74 billion, while import VAT contributed N372.95 billion in Q2 2024.

“On a quarter-on-quarter basis, human health and social work activities recorded the highest growth rate with 98.44%, followed by agriculture, forestry and fishing with 70.26%, and water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation activities with 59.75%,” NBS reported.

“On the other hand, activities of households as employers, undifferentiated goods and services producing activities of households for own use had the lowest growth rate with 46.84%, followed by Real estate activities with 42.59%.

“In terms of sectoral contributions, the top three largest shares in Q2 2024 were
manufacturing with 11.78%; information and communication with 9.02%; and Mining and quarrying with 8.79%.

“Nevertheless, activities of households as employers, undifferentiated goods- and services-producing activities of households for own use recorded the least share with 0.00%, followed by activities of extraterritorial organisations and bodies with 0.01%; and Water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation activities with and real estate services 0.04% each.

“However, on a year-on-year basis, VAT collections in Q2 2024 increased by 99.82% from Q2 2023.”