Laoye Jaiyeola is Chief Executive, Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG), a think tank organisation that supports policy initiatives both at the private and public sectors as well as Member, Sector Sustainability Committee led by the Vice President. In a monitored television magazine programme on Arise TV, in Lagos, by Ibrahim Apekhade Yusuf, the technocrat gives useful suggestions on how to turn the economic tide in the face of COVID-19, global oil price crash, etc. Excerpts:
As somebody who has been studying the economy, what priorities would you recommend to the government at this point in time? What is the prospect for Nigeria post COVID-19, in terms of options that would be available to Nigeria?
There is no doubt that what we are facing is a new normal. I think COVID-19 everywhere in the world the economy is estimated to have suffered a contraction in the gross domestic product (GDP). There are projections that Nigeria can contract for as much as three percent this year. With oil money not available any longer, there will be a significant contraction in the economy. So what we need to do is to diversify. No doubt that we need to pump money into the economy. But more than anything, there is need for us to go into some key priority areas. How do we make agriculture to begin to add significant value? How do we ensure that those sectors like the telecoms sector can be sustained? How do we ensure that the environment for doing business for our SMEs is enhanced? These are things that we need to look at. I’m glad that those sectors have been identified. We need to ensure that whatever supply constraints there are, we deal with them as much as possible.
But beyond what the federal government is doing, the state governments need to roll up their sleeves because the federal allocation is going to significantly disappear. So how do states generate revenue for themselves to ensure that since we’re going into recession? We need to look at the health sector at the end of this COVID-19. We need to ensure that our agriculture sector works so that we don’t have a food crisis on our hands. If we can deal with health, agriculture, and then allow the SMEs to work, we really will not have much challenge.
Government must try to facilitate businesses and make the environment conducive to operate. Thankfully, I have seen a lot of what the private sector has done lately. There have been a number of breakthroughs we have seen. I think it’s something that we must harness and must make sure continue even after COVID-19. The truth is that we need more hands on deck.
You talked about the need for the state governments to roll up their sleeves in view of the dwindling FAAC allocation. But most of the states are not viable and only rely on allocation from the central. How would they survive this?
We shouldn’t kid ourselves. Most of the time, when I hear that states are not viable, the question I ask myself is that is it that they lack opportunities to be viable? The thing is that most of these states have gotten used to going to Abuja to get FAAC. I don’t blame the state governors because it’s well within their rights to collect money as allowed by the constitution. It’ll not come in one month or two or three months. So the state governments should look at where they have competencies and see what they can do.
Has there been any attempt by the NESG as a think tank to make some inputs directly into efforts by government at all levels to resolve challenges of COVID-19 management or do we need to wait till the Summit holds if it’ll hold depending on what happens with COVID-19?
What I want to assure you is that we’re not waiting. The Think Tank usually works silently in the background. We work with the government at the central, the state governments as well as the Governor’s Forum. We’re involved with the private sector. All of these are going on at the right time. We have even gone ahead to look at post COVID-19. How do we begin to look at our economy? We have been involved with discussions with all the various groups both at the federal, state as well as the corporate business levels. Already a study is going on and trying to figure out what will happen to the MSMEs. What are lessons we can carry forward? So to the NESG is not just about the Summit only. The Summit is in October but there’s a lot of work going on all year round. We hold discussion on public private dialogue. Do they listen? Yes they listen. Do they do what we advise? Yes they do. But I can say for a fact that if it’s just 30 percent of what we talk about is even what is implemented; we won’t be where we’re now. But it doesn’t discourage us.
What advice do you have for the SME business owners who are really hit by economic lockdown due to coronavirus?
This is a time when we need to learn from each other. Sometime if you sit alone, you may think that you’re the only one going through a problem. But there is need for us to begin to share experiences. For instance, there is a coalition of MSMEs in Nigeria so what we tell them is let’s share our experiences. I tell people keep your cash; you don’t need to be wasting your cash at times like this. There is need for us to think outside the box, being more creative, think more, work, and learn good practices.
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