What businesses want from Buhari

As the May 29 handover date to a new government draws close, various stakeholders, including the business community, have begun to set a new economic agenda for Muhammadu Buhari, Nigeria’s president-elect.

Top on the list of what the incoming president must do, according to private sector operators comprising manufacturers and leading chambers of commerce, is to plug several loopholes slowing down the nation’s growth and diversify the economy away from oil.

The incoming administration, they said, must also tackle the high cost of doing business in the economy, as well as low productivity attributed to macroeconomic, institutional and structural factors, and ensure a level playing field for all investors across all sectors with regard to import tariffs, funding opportunities and tax incentives.

They further charged the incoming government to block all fiscal leakages and wastes in government, especially petroleum products subsidy, and immediately review the activities of the Joint Task Force in the Niger Delta that superintends over daily huge revenue losses due to oil theft.

There is also the need to prioritise government expenditure to boost investments in critical infrastructure, they said. The challenge of high cost of governance, collapse of the rail system and poor power supply also demand urgent attention.

Specifically, manufacturers want the incoming administration of Muhammadu Buhari not to be in a haste to set aside the programmes of past administrations, but rather look at ways to implement them to the letter and improve on the ones that need improvement.

We cannot but agree with the private sector operators on the foregoing points. For instance, Nigeria launched the National Industrial Revolution Plan (NIRP) in February 2014. The aim of the plan was to diversify the economy away from oil, create jobs and boost export to earn more foreign exchange.

The NIPR, a comprehensive plan targeted at stimulating the industrial sector comprising manufacturing, agriculture value chain, solid minerals, metals, iron and steel, among others, for us, is a plan that needs to be sustained.

On this note, the words of Tunde Oyelola, chairman, Manufacturers Association of Nigeria Export Group, are instructive. According to him, “There is the need to sustain the NIRP and other key industrial initiatives of the Jonathan administration. Continuity of good programmes is often good for the economy. So, rather than reversal, he should think of improving upon areas he feels are not in line with his vision.”

The private sector has also been very outspoken on the activities of key regulatory agencies such as the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), the Consumer Protection Council, the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), among others. The complaints have centred around issues of multiple inspection, multiple taxation and vindictiveness. We believe it will be appropriate for the incoming government to audit the performances of these institutions and perhaps review their mandates and modus operandi to ensure that they deliver the desired value to the private sector and economy at large.

Importantly, while making efforts to diversify the economy away from oil, the government should also ensure acceleration of reforms in the oil and gas sector in order to attract more private investments in both the upstream and downstream segments and save the country the huge foreign exchange used for importation of petroleum products. Nigeria’s economy could yet be rescued from the doldrums.