FG Reiterates Commitment To Economic Diversification

Mrs Zainab Ahmed, the Minister of Finance has stated that the Federal government focus on diversifying the economic from oil dependency to other sustainable sectors like agriculture will not be lost.

The coordinating minister of the economy made this known at the ongoing 24th Nigerian Economic Summit on Tuesday in Abuja.

Ahmed, who spoke on the topic; “Sustainable Economic Opportunities’’ said despite the rise in crude oil price at the international market, government was committed to diversifying the economy by growing agriculture and other sectors.

“We are not shifting away our attention from diversifying the economy, from growing agriculture, mining, as well as ensuring that the right infrastructure are put in place to support businesses.

“What happens in the oil industry is not within our control, the price may go up today and it could go low again, and also it is predisposed to destruction.

“So what happens if production goes down, so we are not losing sight of the fact that we need to stay and focus on growing other sectors of the economy,’’ she said.

She claimed that the federal government was expanding the money it was earning from oil on other sectors of the economy that were more sustainable, adding that attention is now being shifted from oil.

The minister also said government in its Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP), had mapped out some clear target on what it planned to achieve in the economy.

“Our target is to attain 10,000 Mega Watts (MW) electricity by the year 2020, and we started up with 3,500 MWs and we have 7, 200 MWs, so, we are on target and we will surpass the target that we have set,’’ she said.

The minister, who noted that some major roads in the country were under construction stated that the government had plans to concession the four major airports in the country.

She added that the government will work with the private sector to finance and get the funding to grow other sectors of the economy.

“We have a situation where our economy has begun to go back on the part of growth, but also exposed to fragility by external shocks.

“We also have this growing unemployment rate that is really a threat to all of us in the country.

“We have on the other hand a very large population of youths that are very active and enterprising and that itself is a huge advantage .

“This is because the most important resource we have are actually the people, our youths and what we have to do as policy makers is to engage and make the youth to be productive.’’ she said.

She advised government at all levels to engage the private sector to provide electricity and create other opportunities to engage the youth meaningfully.

Ahmed assured that the federal government was doing all it can to create opportunities for economic growth and development.