On Wednesday, April 15, 2020, the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Godwin Emefiele released a document tagged ‘Turning The COVID-19 Tragedy into an Opportunity for a New Nigeria.’
The document issued by Emefiele stated that no one knows what the world will look like after the pandemic, although fears of a long global recession have been raised. It is therefore important for Nigeria as a country to look inwards for solutions. “What if the COVID-19 pandemic continues in a second wave? For how long shall we continue to rely on the world for anything and everything at every time?” Emefiele retorted. The CBN governor added, “as a nation, we cannot afford to continue relying on the world for our food, education, and healthcare.”
Thus, the Apex bank proposed that Nigeria must begin to depend largely on local production, as the time has come to fully transform the nation into a modern, sophisticated and inclusive economy that is self-sufficient. “We must look inwards as a nation and guarantee food security, high quality, affordable healthcare, and cutting-edge education for our people,” the CBN governor said.
To compete globally across a range of strategic sectors, the CBN Governor urged all stakeholders to support the federal government in these eight areas as it would transform the Nigerian economy.
Quality infrastructure: Building a base of high-quality infrastructure, which will include a reliable power can engender Nigeria’s industrial activity as the economy desires to grow and become independent.
Support for farmers: In order to achieve Nigeria’s inclusive goal, both smallholder and large scale agriculture production in selected staple and cash crops need to be supported. This will drive local production and increase export.
Ecosystem for factories: Creating an ecosystem of factories, storage, and logistics companies would facilitate the supply chain and move up raw materials for value-added production, and finished goods to markets;
Robust educational system: In preparing children for tomorrow’s leadership, CBN intends on using its fiscal priorities to create a robust educational system that enables critical thinking and creativity.
Developed Healthcare system: It is mandatory for Nigeria to advance its healthcare system wherein all nationals irrespective of their social class are provided access to good health care services.
Affordable credit for SMEs: As the engine of every economy, CBN is of the notion that cheap and long-term credit for Small and Medium-Scale Enterprises (SMEs) and large corporates should be accessible.
Pro-poor policies: Developing and strengthening Nigeria’s pro-poor policies that bring financial services and security to the poor and the vulnerable is necessary for the country’s economic independence.
Global competition: To expedite favorable global competition for Nigerian businesses, the CBN governor called for the development of venture capitalists for nurturing new ideas and engendering local businesses.
In addition, the Nigerian apex bank has developed a policy response with different timelines that will subsequently guide crisis management and orderly reboot of the Nigerian economy. With the collective implementation of all these proposed policies, Nigeria will be able to attain the level of economic independence it desires. “Now is the time to seize this COVID-19 opportunity and create an environment that empowers our people to thrive within our own shores,” Emefiele concluded.