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Tag: NESG

  • NESG summit to focus on growth

    The Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG), a private sector funded think-tank, in partnership with its public sector counterpart, the National Planning Commission (NPC) is set to host the 21st Nigerian Economic Summit.

    Secretary, National Planning Commission, Bassey Akpanyung, said the summit has become the largest and most prestigious annual economic forum for policy makers and captain s of industry from the public and private sectors of the Nigerian economy, as well as representatives of the academia, civil society organizations and development partners.

    It provides a unique opportunity for the participants to interact and share thoughts on the key issues and challenges facing the Nigerian economy, with a view to evolving a common strategy and policy frame work for addressing them.

    The programme is scheduled to take place from 13th – 15th October in, Abuja. The theme of the summit is: “Tough Choices: Achieving Competitiveness, inclusive Growth and Sustainability”.

    Akpanyung said the summit is coming at a unique time in the history of Nigeria when regardless of recent Gross Domestic Product (GDP) rebasing exercise which placed the country as Africa’s foremost economic power.

    He explained that with the estimated GDP of $536 billion in 2014; the current macroeconomic space is characterized by a continuous decline in international oil prices, weakened public finances, foreign exchange crisis, weak institutions, insecurity weak infrastructure and high youth unemployment rates with attendant negative impacts on the nation’s competitiveness index.

    The summit will examine and facilitate stakeholders’ consensus on the tough choices that need to be made in order to achieve competitiveness and inclusive growth in a sustainable way, through measureable outcomes.

    It is therefore expected that the summit conclusions will be crucial in defining the agenda that will help in making Nigeria’s socio-economic environment globally competitive. The summit has been structured to include presidential policy dialogue where His Excellency, President Muhammadu Buhari is expected to lead a conversation which will focus on key strategic elements required to make Nigeria globally competitive.

  • ‘Single currency exchange good for Nigeria’

    ‘Single currency exchange good for Nigeria’

    The single currency exchange agreements among ECOWAS countries will boost Nigeria’s economy, the former chairman, Nigeria Economic Summit Group (NESG), Sam Ohuabunwa has said.

    Speaking with The Nation in Lagos, Ohuabunwa said the country stands to be a major beneficiary because a lot of trade that are going on within the ECOWAS countries is driven by Nigeria.

    “Because Nigeria is a dominance economy in the region so if you put the currencies in the basket the weight of the Nigerian currency would be higher,” he stated.

    “Nigeria is the industrial hub and therefore if we have a single currency it will promote trade and Nigeria will be the major beneficiary and certainly would discourage all forms of practices that would not promote the nation’s economy,” he stressed.

    Ohuabunwa said that with the single exchange it would not only be easier to measure trade but also to record trade, saying the country would be better for it.

  • NESG director chairs APCON

    The Federal Government has appointed Udeme Ufot, a director, Nigeria Economic Summit Group (NESG), as Chairman, Governing Council, Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria (APCON).

    Ufot who is the Group Managing Director of SO&U Group and a former President of the Association of Advertising Agencies of Nigeria (AAAN) was joint chairman of the organizing committee of Summit 12 in 2006.

    Ufot widely respected for his contributions to the marketing communications industry in Nigeria has served several tenures as council member of APCON and chaired a number of subcommittees.

    Speaking on his appointment, Ufot said he felt honoured with the opportunity to serve as the new APCON chairman. He noted that challenges and opportunities lay ahead and both must be harnessed for the growth of the industry.

    “There is a lot of work to be done and it requires sacrifice. With the experience of the council members, APCON will continue to regulate and encourage competitiveness within the industry. It’s a challenge and an opportunity to make a change,” he said.

    In 2000, he was a member of the publicity subcommittee of the Organising Committee of the 40th Independence celebration set up by the Federal Government of Nigeria. The same committee was given the responsibility for planning and executing publicity for the first anniversary of return to civil rule during the Obasanjo led Government.

     

  • NESG Summit House commissioned

    NESG Summit House commissioned

    Former head of state Chief Ernest Shonekan at the weekend, commissioned the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG) Summit House in Lagos. The NESG, which was created to bridge the communication gap between the private and public sectors of the economy, is also meant to serve as advocacy group that advises the government on the ways to move the economy forward.

    Chief Sonekan said the NESG which has been in existence for 21 years, has now expanded and made significant progress.

    Chief Sonekan said there was a lot of mutual suspicions and communication gaps between the operators in the private and public sectors, prompting the creation of the NESG to help bridge that gap.

    He further said he was proud of NESG achievements and also challenged other private sector groups to emulate what the body has achieved over the years. He noted that the private sector should not expect government to do everything for them as the country belongs to everyone and collective responsibility is needed to make it a better place for all.

    The Minister, National Planning Commission (NPC) Dr. Abubakar Olarenwaju Sulaiman, said occasion signifies the formal transition of the NESG from infancy to greatness after two decades of existence.

    “I am delighted that the NESG Summit House is being commissioned today. Let me start by expressing the National Planning Commission appreciation and commendation of the Chairman of the NESG, Mr  Foluso Philips; the outgoing Director General of the NESG Mr Frank Nweke and the entire board of members of NESG for the role played in completing the project,” he said.

  • LCCI, Ohuabunwa urge subsidy removal, deregulation

    LCCI, Ohuabunwa urge subsidy removal, deregulation

    The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) and the former president, Nigeria Economic Summit Group (NESG), Mazi Sam Ohuabunwa have renewed calls on the Federal Government to deregulate the downstream oil sector and end fuel subsidy regime that has constituted a drain pipe on the national treasury.

    Director-General, Muda Yusuf said the need to deregulate the downstream sector had become imperative in view of the wastage arising from fuel subsidy.

    Comparing how the oil resources are managed in the Middle East and other Arab nations, he said while those countries have used the revenue from the sector to develop the critical sectors of their economy and lift the standard of living of their citizenry, the reverse is the case in the country.

    “Unfortunately in our country, the potential of the sector has not been developed or optimised due to fraud, leakages and over regulation. As stakeholders we believe that except the subsidy regime is removed the nation cannot be moved forward,” he lamented.

    Ohuabunwa, who spoke at a lecture by the Petroleum Downstream Sector of LCCI with the theme “Removing subsidy: The implications on banks, downstream &   upstream sectors, government  and the populace, said total deregulation of the sector will increase bank lending and enable local and foreign investors to build refineries and create jobs that will grow the economy it has done to emerging economies that produce oil.

    He blamed the stunted growth of the economy on the non-optimal performance of the oil and gas sector where several licences had been given by government without the owners utilising the opportunity due to the harsh operating environment where importation holds more reward than manufacturing.

    Ohuabunwa, also a former president, Neimeth Nig Plc, said deregulating the sector would check lending by banks to speculators and those who do round tripping and collect money and payments from the government without offering services to the people.

    He berated the government for not curtailing the scandals or concluding the trials of those implicated in the subsidy scam which has plummeted their rating in the face of the public.

     

     

    He said: “The government has unfortunately been wasting over 30 per cent of the annual budget on subsidy payment  as it spend about N1.436 trillion which is about 118 per cent of the budget in 2011 on subsidy payment. This is not sustainable; the fund would be better used in strategic infrastructure provision of other critical social infrastructure such as education, health care and other social safety nets.”

    He insisted that if the nation was saving its money, President Jonathan would not have to ask for $1 billion from the legislators to fight insurgency as the nation would have saved enough money to purchase all the military hardware needed by the military.

    Also speaking, Energy Service Group chair of LCCI, said Mr. Emma Osagie the implication of non deregulation of the petroleum and gas sector is huge for the nation. According to him it shows poor revenue management as the whole exercise depicts the wastage of national resources.

    He also said that people are kicking against the deregulation because they see the oil and gas sector as a common wealth which they must partake in.

  • NESG : Primary School Old Students Ass & Dev Board, Library Box, ‘CATFLE’, Enquiring Mind

    NESG : Primary School Old Students Ass & Dev Board, Library Box, ‘CATFLE’, Enquiring Mind

    Letter for a noose… and you be thrown into a river than to harm’.. steal or misappropriate children’s education funds’. The 2014 Nigerian Economic Summit on education is over. Congratulations, particularly for children’s views. It covered all education bases from pre-school, post-graduate, policies, many regulatory bodies, corruption, cost, envelopes, five year curriculum change delays, strategies, teacher quality and qualifications, teacher/student motivation and public private partnerships. Were co-curricular activites discussed -volunteering, debating and athletics – moulding character, relationships, and teaching winning and losing coping skills?

    It was brilliant of NESG to have Channels TV. While we welcome policy/financial intervention of international bodies, such funds must not replace funds stolen or unapplied by Abacha etc. Nigerian states are well-funded but traditionally accord education low priority or a greedy leadership steals education money. This is a political crime against education rights of children. States must be honest, have bigger education budgets, not by throwing more DFID, Ford or Bill Gates Funds at the corrupt states to replace the stolen funds, soon to be stolen again.

    The summit also highlighted the private sector which is the smaller Old Students Associations, OSA, and Parent Teachers Associations, PTAs and the larger real private sector. Often old students help direct Corporate Social Responsibility, CSR, funds to schools. Without Old Students Associations many schools would have collapsed. Imagine the state of Nigeria’s secondary/tertiary education without Old Students Associations and corporate bodies. Strangely, OSAs/Alumni and even PTAs are absent in primary schools except when an old student dies and the playground becomes a funeral ground. Yet pre-school and primary school are the most important foundation layers in education. This fault has cost Nigeria a generation of education success. Almost every Nigerian went to a primary school, a 100+million huge database for billions in funds, ideas, motivation and role models for development.

    Government policy must encourage OLD PRIMARY SCHOOL ASSOCIATIONS, OPSA, or Primary Old School Associations, POSA, now! Imagine starting in 2014 over 80,000 new OPSA education bodies gathering funds for individual schools. WOW! Start one in your primary school!

    Each Nigerian school must distribute ‘A SCHOOL NEEDS LIST’ and set up a ‘LOCAL COMMUNITY SCHOOL DEVELOPMENT BOARD’ to raise needed funds. Paradoxically, schools still suffer from government political policies that discouraged local fundraising/donations as they could be misused by the political opposition. Wrong! This policy has caused stagnation of education and turned teachers into zombies. Requesting donations by parents and neighbourhood businesses of newspapers/magazines/books are the cornerstone of foreign schools, filling an empty library box weekly and items should be requested for and accepted. Worldwide even private institutions like Oxbridge, Harvard ‘beg’ for funds and donations, so why not public schools? Nigeria must stop politics ruining education. Let children ask parents to send them to school with something -a book, ball, scissors, paper, pictures, marker-pens etc.. Also, you send a book to your old school. Our children are ignorant because they attend unfriendly empty schools-no library book/sport culture – a deliberate backward policy of governments which introduced the ‘theory of’ chemistry and other sciences so that the budget of chemicals/laboratories could be misappropriated for 40 years! No wonder Nigerian graduates know no practical steps- na so-so-theory. Even technical schools have little technical equipment!

    Shamefully there is a 6-10,000,000 ‘LIBRARY BOOK DEFICIT’ in Nigeria’s schools. The State of Osun uses computers to substitute for 100 books. Is this visionary high-tech project nationally practical or will ethnic rivalries refuse to fund progressive policies? Were strategies to eliminate this ‘Library Book Deficit’ discussed? Are library books even in Nigeria’s budgets? Librarians rightly want buildings or rooms but governments must immediately install a national/state/LGA emergency strategy of ‘ANNUAL LIBRARY BOXES’ of 100-200books/school-one per year cumulatively creating a library of 1000 books over five years. Parents can equip schools immediately under a ‘BRING A LIBRARY BOOK TO SCHOOL, PLEASE’ asking students to come with a novel for the class or school library at the beginning of each term or year. Each student can take the book back at term-end or lend it in a ‘HOLIDAY BOOK EXCHANGE PROGRAMME’. The following term they each bring another book.

    Introduce this ‘IRISH LITERATURE TRICK’ used in St Gregory’s College in the 1960s. Instead of purchasing 30 copies of one literature book X for a class of 30/term or year, we got six copies of five different books, A,D,C,D,E,F a title for each row of six students. At term-end all five books would have been enjoyably read for two weeks each by all students for the price of one. In three years, Classes 1-3, we read five books x three terms x three years = 45 books. Reading problems today are cheaply and easily solvable –variety and enjoyment –not just one literature title for which a bribe may have been paid.

    Education is not nuclear physics but simply ‘ABCDEFT’- ‘About Books, Chairs, Desks Equipment, Friendly and Toilets’, and a ‘Child And Teacher-Friendly Learning Environment’- CATFLE. Why are public schools lacking these in 2014? Political and civil service greed – stealing from our children! Will we eat our children next? We have two education problems, creating and filling ‘Enquiring Minds’ in Nigeria’s students! These are hallmarks of civilised society achievable only with astute political leadership and personal sacrifice, the type our parents made for us! No Nigerian official or education policy should discriminate against any Nigerian child. Regular readers will see that these education solutions outlined above have been in this column for years. Any takers this time?

     

  • New wine, old wineskins

    New wine, old wineskins

    Last week, something I consider as remarkable took place in Abuja. The National Economic Summit Group (NESG) held their 20th summit with the theme “Transforming Education through Partnerships for Global Competitiveness”. The focus was on galvanising a “national consensus on what is required to rebuild, revamp and reinforce the education sector to secure the nation’s future”.

    A conclave of different actors in the educational value chain, call it, an assembly of providers and consumers of products of the educational system as well as other important stakeholders, the common thread in the deliberations was the insistence by participants that challenges faced by the sector were such that demanded more than the ritual of endless dissections and bewailing of the sorry state of the sector.

    For me, the idea of bringing the demanders and suppliers of educational products to same table to forge a consensus on the way forward was remarkable. However, what I consider even more remarkable – beyond the customary resolve to chart a different paradigm to reclaim what is left of a sector in tatters – was the opportunity provided for the interment of the oversold lie that the government possesses all the answers to the problems of the sector.

    For sure, if the lessons of the critical interconnectedness between industry and business – as demanders of educational products which thrusts on them the responsibility of influencers of educational curriculum – and the educational system have been learnt at all, it would appear as coming late in the day.

    Beyond the singular revelation of the paradox of an educational system, steeped in old analogue ways but would rather pretend to be in steady course to the fast-paced digital future where competition and competitiveness rule, the shattering of the long-held illusion which insisted that a country of the future can be constructed on the old, ancient educational paradigm would be for me the defining moment.

    As was made clear from the deliberations, the choice facing Nigeria is either to accept the reality of that imperative to align with the requirement for competitiveness through multi-level investment in the infrastructure for nurturing tomorrow’s skills or in the alternative watch the rest of humanity leave her behind.

    Coincidentally, much as the Abuja conclave proved to be something of a landmark, another event of revolutionary import would be aborted in Edo State. I refer here to the competency test instituted for teachers by the Oshiomhole-led administration in the state. For months, Edo teachers, through the state chapter of their union, the Academic Staff Union of Secondary Schools had been locked in battle with the state government over the latter’s insistence on determining the continuing fitness of the teachers in its employ for their job. As it turned out, the test, slated for last Saturday was an anti-climax of sorts. Of the 13,000 strong teachers, only 200 – a figure representing less than two percent of those expected –showed up for the test – no thanks to a court order allegedly obtained by the teachers body stopping the exercise. In this, Edo teachers would appear to have borrowed a leaf from their counterparts in Ekiti State where a similar programme tagged Teachers Development Needs Assessment, TDNA ran into a stormy weather in 2012. If my memory serves me right, that exercise had to be aborted by the state government.

    For me, the two events merely underscore the difficult challenges ahead. For starters, I do not think that anyone denies that the debate on how we got to this point is legitimate. After all, the bureaucracy is supposed to have in-built fail-safe systems to sift qualified candidates from the unqualified and to ensure that the former not only makes it to the teachers’ nominal roll. The same goes for rewards which are supposed to be guided strictly by performance/competence. But then we are talking here of our bureaucratic institution – one so steeped in the culture of impunity, of bastardisation of process, in which subversion of rules of hiring are on such scale that would make Max Weber turn in his grave. While the remedial measures ordinarily appear drastic, they are best appreciated in the context of the highlighted problems.

    The issue, understandably, isn’t whether or not the labourer is worthy of his hire. The teachers, particularly in our public schools, obviously deserve far more than what is currently on offer. I say this borne of my profound understanding of their importance in the educational system, in the larger society and also in the shaping of the destinies of our young ones.

    The real problem is that the teachers are not even persuaded that the exercise which holds so much promise for upgrading their status as professionals amounts to anything. Instead, what they see are grand schemes to deny them of the comfort of permanent employment not minding whether the classrooms are empty or full. Not even government assurances that the test merely seeks to identify relevant skill-gaps to enable them take remedial measures. With just enough paranoia to go round about the real intentions of government, the needless scaremongering would seem inevitable. Lost on the teachers is the hefty price on both sides of the divide: the true professional forced to trade off the prospects of enhanced motivation for the morsel – if you like, the drudgery – of lifetime employment, and the society robbed of standards leading to empty schoolrooms.

    The truth of course is that the failure is as much of government and those of the Teachers Registration Council; the former for abdication, the latter for scorning the challenge of self-regulation. To the extent that no one argues these days for the retention of the stenographers of yore in the age of personal computers and tablets, by the same token, the requirements for progress in our world are such that demands modern, cutting-edge skills from those charged with imparting knowledge to our children. Once upon a time, it was possible to suggest that a half-baked teacher is better than nothing; today, most people would wager than an ill-equipped teacher is worse than sweet poison; worse than useless.

    Let me end on this note: the general debate on how to bring the fundamental changes in the educational sector is certainly not about to end. Surely, the debate on the vast range of issues of structure, funding, issue of access would remain open for a long time to come. Much as our teachers are entitled to our understanding, what is not right is their attempt to compel a foreclosure of the debate on quality assurance which the loathed test seeks to bring about. How about teaching us to make a meal of omelette without breaking an egg?

  • ‘Failure to curb Boko Haram insurgency dangerous’

    ‘Failure to curb Boko Haram insurgency dangerous’

    The Chairman of the Nigeria Economic Summit Group (NESG), Mr. Foluso Phillips, has expressed disappointment about the rate at which Boko Haram insurgents are killing innocent Nigerians.

    He said if urgent steps were not taken to stop the group, everybody might pay for the consequences.

    The NESG boss spoke in Abuja at the 20th Nigeria Economic Summit.

    He said government should pay attention to the education sector to improve the economy.

    Phillips said Nigeria is not doing enough to curb corruption, adding: “We are not pursuing and punishing those engaged in corrupt practices. We agree with a school of thought, which places emphases on building institutions, systems and processes, which provide an enduring and sustainable war against corruption.

    “But we need to have a collective and an uncompromising approach to dealing with corruption. President Goodluck Jonathan should come down harder on the culprits. We must rely on the power of the rule of law.”

     

  • Death daily! NESG Summit- Books,& ‘WOW’ factors: Dangote Aquarium, Glo Science Museum!

    Death daily! NESG Summit- Books,& ‘WOW’ factors: Dangote Aquarium, Glo Science Museum!

    Why is there such a high and lethal cost to being a Nigerian? Amidst deaths of seven applicants to the immigration service, 114 murdered by ‘suspected’ Fulani herdsmen in Kaduna State and the Lagos boat mishaps, the Nigerian Economic Summit Group has soul-searching questions. The NESG Summit on education which means ‘eliminating ignorance’ may not know that an NESG member MTN has an ‘MTN Science Centre’ in South Africa. Please Google it. There is no MTN Science Centre in Nigeria. What is advertising, what is CSR? Why do NESG members neglect long-term internationally accepted permanent educational thematic structures either as advert strategies or CSR education policies? MUSON, built by NESG members, serves arts education but the sciences are in a deadly vacuum. NESG members prefer short-term use- abuse-and-throw-away bonanza, ‘T-shirt and face cap reality TV/music/sports’. Billions are wasted on promotional pamphlets thrown away as programmes end. Foreign ‘Weapons of Mass Development’ created permanent Exhibitions/Museums supported by corporates sometimes on land donated by intelligent ‘legacy governments’. Where is Lagos Aquarium or Abuja or Port Harcourt Science Museum?

    MUSON is a template for NESG to reproduce 500 MUSONs for different themes nationwide on government/private land, bringing the contents of every tertiary institution, department, industry and idea into education, generating new employment and tourism sectors. Abroad, Smithsonian, Welcome, Louvre, Natural History, Science/Tech or Space Exhibitions inspire and educate youth. But ‘Nothing For You’ Nigeria’s youth, Lagbaja says.

    We waste education opportunities. Even our Gardens and Parks, GAP, are empty of intellectual profit and should have a corporate-supported permanent unique exhibition or museum to fill the ‘GAP’ in the youth brain. Is there a Cadbury or Milo Chocolate or Indomie Food Museum, a Dangote Cement or Lafarge Building Technology Museum? No!

    Where do Nigerian students go for the ‘WOW’ factor? Dangote or Glo Aquarium, Glo Technology Museum, UCH Medical Museum? Not yet built! Why does corporate Nigeria refuse the challenge of grand education designs in iconic buildings? Nigeria deserve better than fine bank buildings. We have 700 km of ocean but no aquarium-the simplest ‘wow’ factor. Have you seen a giant octopus swim? Where are Nigeria’s Dangote, Otedola, Conoil, Glo, MTN, PZ, UAC, Lever Brothers Natural History Museum, First Bank Aquarium, Zenith Zoo,etc? Na so so Event Centre! Greed go kill us!  Unfortunately the NESG members and politicians know the value of pictures as they litter Nigeria with millions of posters and the biggest advert posters and structures in the world but paradoxically allow our youth to die in ignorance with no classroom posters. NESG members need education on better use of CSR powerful pocket money!

    Education is four quarters – primary, secondary, tertiary and quaternary- making a circle of intelligence. Quaternary education is out-of-school, co-curricular. Education remains mainly under-funding and corruption. Yes, NESG members support many educational infrastructural, scholarships, academic, sports and cultural and now entrepreneurship activities, under CSR and continuing education programmes including co-curricular sports and targeted ‘Subject Excellence Projects’ like in mathematics, chemistry etc. But more is spent on corporate adverts than on education in Nigeria. NESG members need CSR coordination.

    Education is not rocket science. Little cheap/per student things make a difference like desks, chairs, books, posters, IT, learning aids, toilets, water, electricity, library, laboratories, good learning environment, black or white board, chalk-white and coloured- and marker pens, Braille stylus for the blind. Tick these to assess schools. Teachers are not always included in solutions. No public school can buy a book or scissors due to over-centralisation. The disaster that is education can be summarised as ‘A picture is worth a 1000 words except in Nigeria where there are no posters, libraries, museums, exhibitions or aids’. Tony Blair’s ‘Education, Education, Education’ was UK’s key to the future. In Nigeria, ‘books, books, books’ are essential! A school without books is not a school. I offer this outline Manifesto/ Communiqué.

    To accelerate quality education, NESG will:

    Encourage Federal/state/LGAs to spend 26% on education- UNESCO.

    Encourage access to counterpart N102billion in UBEC/ TET Funds with no diversion of education budgets

    Warn that funding of political parties must not come from government or education budgets

    Encourage CSR funding of books -text and novels to improve the reading culture, not empty exercise books.

    Sign up for ‘A CSR 200 book BOX Library Project/school’ and

    Support ‘A PICTURE IS WORTH 1000 WORDS’ 10 SCHOOL POSTERS/class on different subjects. Some Corporate Calendars are educational but never reach classrooms

    Encourage one percent of Pre Tax profits as ‘The CSR Gold Standard’ with a higher percent for education

    Encourage NESG members CSR Awards after ‘CSR Monitoring, Voluntary Registration, Evaluation’

    Encourage a wide CSR sign-on to include service companies, legal, accounts, property and advertising firms.

    Empower teachers with ‘Teacher Packs’ and re-training course content

    Every student contributes to NESG corporate wealth by eating, drinking, washing, phoning, taking transport so encourage decentralised CSR and Foundations to branches/bank outlet/distributors to reach every school.

    Girls deserve extra educational support from cosmetic/sanitary companies like PZ, Procter and Gamble etc.

    NESG should fund first generation youth volunteer NGOs – Boy Scouts, Girl Guides. Red Cross as role models.

    Encourage CSR in Education PPPs Public Private Partnerships with Recognitions, Rewards and Awards.

    Commit members to some CSR for permanent Exhibitions/Museums especially if government donates land.

    Every corporate advert should morally include a small add-on educational/health message to keep citizens alive.

     

  • WEF, NESG to conduct economic survey

    The World Economic Forum (WEF) in partnership with the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG) will conduct the Executive Opinion Survey 2013 in Nigeria between February and April 2013.

    In a statement, the NESG said the Executive Opinion Survey, “The Voice of the Business Community” is a major component of The Global Competitiveness Report and provides the key ingredient that turns the Report into a representative annual measure of a nation’s economic environment and its ability to achieve sustained growth.

    The Survey gathers valuable information on a broad range of variables for which hard data sources are scarce or non-existent. “Starting Monday, 18 February 2013, NESG Survey Administrators will administer questionnaires to a sample of high level business executives operating in Nigeria, to capture their opinions on the business environment in which they operate,” it said.

    Given that only a sample of company executives in Nigeria will be engaged in this important and confidential survey, the NESG stressed that it was essential for each executive sampled to complete the survey to ensure that Nigeria has accurate and reliable data in the Report.

    The Global Competitiveness Report has been the World Economic Forum’s flagship publication since 1979 and is widely recognized as the world’s leading cross-country comparison of factors affecting economic competitiveness and growth.