Nigeria needs roadmap to diversify economy – NECA

The Nigeria Employers Consultative Association (NECA) has advocated the need for the country to articulate a definite roadmap to diversify the economy toward trade and non-oil sectors.

NECA’s Director General, Adewale-Smatt Oyerinde, who made the call at a news conference in Lagos in preparation for the association’s second Annual Employers Summit scheduled to hold in Abuja between July 10 and July 11, said such a roadmap would not only guarantee long-term economic stability, but would also ensure sustained job creation and foreign exchange generation.

He said, “Aggressively transiting into non-oil export and exportable service activities will allow Nigeria to take advantage of the rising income elasticity of demand that derives from growing income in the world economy.”

He noted that for over five decades, the Nigerian economy has predominantly depended on Crude Oil sales, accounting for over 80 per cent of the country’s revenue and foreign exchange earnings, albeit, with slight contribution to its GDP growth. 

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“Due to the vulnerability of the Oil sector, any external shock with the potential to affect the production capacity of the nation always has a significant effect on the economy. 

“Export trade is generally considered a veritable instrument for sustainable economic growth. It normally facilitates improved foreign exchange earnings, strengthens the balance of payments, encourages the development of export-oriented industries in the manufacturing sector term cumulatively accelerates economic growth.” 

He noted that according to the National Bureau of Statistics, the export trade of Nigeria was recorded at N26.8 trillion in 2022, while import trade was N25.7 trillion with a trade balance of N1.21 trillion for the same year.

“Non- oil sector stood at N2.57 trillion in 2022 with a growth rate of  growth 19.6 per cent for the whole year; share of oil export to total export was recorded at 76.74 per cent in 2022