VICE President Yemi Osinbajo has said that the core economic objectives of the Nigerian government include facilitating private sector collaboration.
Senior Special Assistant to the Vice President on Media and Publicity Laolu Akande disclosed this in a statement he signed.
Osinbajo spoke on Friday after commissioning the Kimberly-Clark Huggies Diaper Manufacturing Plant in Ikorodu, Lagos State.
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He said with about seven million babies born every year in Nigeria, the market for diapers was huge, and the factory signaled the beginning of greater investments in the manufacturing and other sectors.
He added that the plant would provide thousands of good-paying jobs, directly and indirectly within the next three years.
“For the Federal Government, every new manufacturing plant is an important step towards our belief that it is private investments, both local and foreign, that must be the pathway to rapid economic growth, with jobs and prosperity.”
Buttressing the importance of the FG’s National Development Plan, the vice president said the success of the plan depended greatly on a conscious reliance on private enterprise and initiative.
He noted that it was envisaged that an investment commitment of N348 trillion would be needed over the four-year period of the plan, adding that the government at all levels would provide about N49.7 trillion or about 14 per cent, while the private sector was expected to invest N298 trillion or about 86 per cent.
Osinbajo further disclosed that the FG’s commitment to supporting and collaborating with the private sector was expressed in the strategic objectives of the National Development Plan.
“The implementation of the plan is expected to be supported by a range of fiscal, monetary and trade measures, including more intentionally promoting productivity and value addition.
“This will, of course, also mean loosening generalised restrictions on trade. Blanket import restrictions are a dampener on economic activity because a lot of items that might be needed in the manufacturing process might be affected, with consequent negative impact on value addition in the economy.
“It would also mean moving away from our instinctive demand management approach, managing limited resources to producing and creating more in a competitive and sustainable manner. This is especially so for foreign exchange, where we all agree that a more market-driven, managed float approach will attract more dollars and relieve the pressure on foreign exchange.”
He, however, noted that the Buhari administration had highlighted key action items in all of the focus areas to drive sustainability.
'Niyi worked with The ICIR as an Investigative Reporter and Fact-checker from 2020 till September 2022. You can shoot him an email via [email protected]. You can as well follow him on Twitter via @niyi_oyedeji.