THE Federal Government loses about N10 billion yearly to under-investment in infrastructure in the rural areas, the President, Association of Micro Entrepreneur of Nigeria (AMEN), Mr. Prince Saviour Iche, has said.
This, Iche said, impedes economic growth. According to him, the rural areas need capital to fix broken rural infrastructure.
The most notable failure, Iche stressed, is infrastructure to promote small enterprise development. He stated that the rural areas need economic growth programmes aimed at promoting a more balanced pattern of domestic growth that creates stronger productive economy capable of supporting rising living standards.
According to him, money is needed to rebuild and update rural infrastructure to boost rural economic growth as a lot of infrastructure falls far short of even conservative estimates of needed repairs and renovations.
He explained that the poor state of infrastructure affects the wellbeing of businesses and the economy is paying heavily for its aging and deteriorating infrastructure.
According to him, ignoring the nation’s crumbling infrastructure will only serve to slow an economy and leave the future of the economic growth on shaky ground.
He said the rural areas need a development blueprint that accelerates the building of an industrial system that promotes coordinated rural economic development.
According to him, the country has improved the infrastructure for supplying water and power, built or upgraded rural roads, what remains is to tackle common concerns such as rising hunger, bring about prosperity and peace, and build a more sustainable future for all.
He stressed that major transportation infrastructure projects must be integrated with state and rural development, and better coordination is required between authorities that control primary, large scale infrastructure, and those that manage the secondary and tertiary related infrastructure.