Clem Agba, Minister of State for Budget and National Planning, announced yesterday that organised private sector (OPS) operators will contribute N300 trillion to the N350 trillion 2021-2022 National Development Plan (NDP).
The balance N50 trillion will also be obtained by the Federal Government, according to the minister, who also stated that a portion of the money needed for the five-year plan has been included into the 2022 Appropriation Bill.
President Muhammadu Buhari submitted the ideas to the National Assembly’s joint session last Thursday for review and approval.
Agba made the remark during a which was before media briefing to launch off the 27th National Economic Summit, which is set to begin on October 25 in Abuja.
Agba explained how the government intends to raise the N350 trillion: “The N50 trillion is for finance requirements for the National Development Plan capital project for 2021 to 2025.” With the initiatives which have been estimated and appraised, there would be a demand of around N350 trillion, of which N300 trillion is expected to flow in in capital investments from the organised private sector, and the government will contribute about N50 trillion.
Agba stated that Special-Industrial Processing Zones (SAPZs), a public-private partnership concept of the African Development Bank (AfDB), will be built throughout all 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) to sustain and grow.
The SAPZs are a 10-year development system funded by the AFDB that will guarantee a 5% yearly growth rate for the next ten years beginning in 2023.
“The plan, among many other things, is to add an additional $150 billion to the country’s foreign reserves accumulative from non-oil export markets over the next ten years; create at least 500,000 additional export-linked businesses . In order due, primarily, to an increase in effective external trade; and lift at least 10 million Nigerians out of poverty by integrating each state and its people into the export supply chain.”
“These efforts and activities would unlock each state’s prospects in the field and promoting of at least one industrial crop.”
In his remarks, Asue Ighodalo, Chairman of the Nigerian Economic Summit (NES #27), lamented the proposed 27th Economic Summit coming at a time the country is facing challenging fiscal problems such as “devaluation of the currency, foreign exchange shortages, trade imbalances, budget deficits, mounting debts, high inflation-especially food inflation, food insecurity, low manufacturing capacity, port lack of access, delays and high costs of moving commodities and industrial equipment.”
