▪︎Says Nigeria is keeping faith with development, implementation of national plans
Minister of State for Budget and national Planning, Prince Clem Ikanade Agba said on Thursday that there could not be meaningful and successful transformation in the West Africa subregion without inclusive growth and development.
Delivering a keynote address at the opening of the 23rd Conference of the Intergovernmental Committee of Senior Officials and Experts (ICE) for West Africa, which he attended virtually, Agba stated that lack of inclusive growth and inequality were sure pathways to social upheavals.
According to him, “It is against this backdrop that that Federal Government of Nigeria has, since 2009, kept faith with the development and implementation of her national development Plans.
“I am happy to inform you that the implementation of both the perspective and medium-term plans, the Nigeria Vision 20:2020 and the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) will terminate in December, 2020.
“As I speak to you, having recognised the importance of planning in national development, we are developing the successor plans to the NV20:2020 and ERGP, tagged “Nigeria Agenda 2050 and Medium-Term National Development Plan (MTNDP) 2021-2025 and 2026-2030.”
“The Plans are designed to cover all sectors of the Nigerian economy and address critical aspects of the global, continental and sub-regional Agendas, namely the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), African Union (AU) Agenda 2063 and the ECOWAS Vision.”
Agba said that the Plan preparation process was participatory, consultative and inclusive, covering all the stakeholders such as federal and sub-national levels of government, private sector organizations, civil society organizations, women and youth organizations, people with special needs and development partners.
“It is expected that the Plans will be formally launched this year (next month) for implementation to commence in January 2021.”
The minister said that the theme of the 2020 ICE conference with the theme “Maximizing investments to achieve Optimum Demographic Dynamics in West Africa in a COVID 19 era: The Imperative of Building Back Better” was apt and timely as it would address the implications of the rising population in the sub-region with a view to maximizing demographic dividends.
He commended the organisers for putting together the conference, which, according to him, would go a long way in finding solutions to the economic and social development challenges facing West African countries.
“This Conference therefore provides an excellent opportunity to discuss and agree on the pathways for economic growth and sustainable development of the sub-region,” the minister stated.
The minister said he was happy to note that the rationale behind the theme for the 23rd ICE Conference was to, among others, address human development issues in Africa especially in areas such as health, discuss the negative impact of COVID-19 crisis, provide solutions to education system in Africa and address the poor access to decent employment and income, and the challenges of population growth.
According to him, “it is estimated that Nigeria’s population will hit over 411 million by 2050 with 65% of the population under the age of 35,” adding that “the high population growth rate is therefore, a matter of concern as there is the need to cater to the rising population by stimulating the economy that engenders growth and creates jobs.
“To achieve this, we need to create economic activities that open up productive sectors and take full advantage of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Agreement.
“It now behooves the experts at this conference to identify critical enablers that will move the sub-region forward. There is therefore, the need to develop and deploy human capital, as well as improve our infrastructure stock for higher productivity and competitiveness.”
Agba continued: “Economic prosperity depends on the productivity in which our human and natural resources are employed. In this regard, the sub-region needs to among others put in place: a modern well-regulated financial sector that turns savings into productive investments; invest in research, development, innovation and technology; invest in hard and soft infrastructure as well as sustained encouragement of entrepreneurship and innovation; develop value chains in agriculture and processing of natural; and, identify and focus on specific industries for job creation.”
He said that achieving all these would help build a competitive private sector economy that would engender economic prosperity for ECOWAS countries and manage the sub-region’s demography.
According to him, “the good news is that strategic planning has long been recognised as a very useful management framework at all levels of government. It is an important mechanism for controlling and coordinating economic and social activities in a planning space.
“It is a deliberate effort to influence, direct or control principal economic and socio-political activities to achieve the desired goals of protecting the citizens and improving their livelihood.”
He expressed his appreciation to the representative of the ECOWAS Commission, Dr Kofi Konadu Apraku; representatives of the UNDP and other partners for finding time to be part of the event.
While he thanked the Organizing Committee members for ensuring the successful hosting of the 23rd ICE despite prevailing challenges, the minister also commended the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa for considering Nigeria worthy to host the august event.
Stay ahead with the latest updates! Join The ConclaveNG on WhatsApp and Telegram for real-time news alerts, breaking stories, and exclusive content delivered straight to your phone. Don’t miss a headline — subscribe now!
