Nigeria can grow annual GDP by 12% – NIPPS DG

The Director General of the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPPS), Prof. Ayo Omotayo, said the Nigerian economic growth rate can average 12 per cent annually for 5 years with a push from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

Prof. Omotayo who stated this in Abuja when he led members of Group Six, Senior Executive Course 46, 2024, on a study tour of the apex bank, Tuesday, explained that with CBN deploying digital tools as drivers, the economy can outperform its current Gross Domestic Product, GDP, growth rate.

The Federal Government in the 2024 budget projected GDP growth at 3.76 percent.

He noted that with growth in the use of digital services to run economies across the globe, the institute believes that the CBN “because of its own regulatory role, has a lot of importance in the matter of the digital economy.

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He said: “We are asking ourselves how many things can be moved digitally. The more our activities that can be put in digital format, the more of the opportunity to provide more access to a whole lot of 120 million active Nigerians.

“We at NIPPS believe that we can have 12 percent growth in our economy, year in year out for the next five years if we are serious about it and if it is going to work, the CBN is critical in ensuring that it works. A whole lot of what is going to happen in Nigeria in the next five years depend on how successful CBN drives everything.”

Speaking earlier, the CBN Governor, Olayemi Cardoso observed that with over 100 million people economically active in Nigeria, the digital landscape in the country was evolving rapidly presenting immense opportunities and challenges.

Cardoso, who was represented by the Deputy Governor, Corporate Services, Dr. Bala Bello noted that as a “forward-thinking central bank, we are committed to harnessing the power of digital technologies to enhance financial inclusion, boost productivity, and create an enabling environment for innovation and entrepreneurship to thrive. The bank has also deployed robust digital technologies in driving most of its processes towards achieving optimal performance”.