SBL: Fostering good governance, economic growth
With the Annual Business Law conference organised by the Nigerian Bar Association Section on Business Law well behind us, we are faced with dealing headlong with the vital issues raised at this conference, or relapse into our old dismal state with lack of good governance and economic development.
The 8th edition of the conference, which took place recently at the Eko Hotel & Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos, took the focus of participants away from the general thought of being the biggest economy, to focusing rather on driving the economy through good governance and visionary leadership.
The event, largely attended by business lawyers, judges, policy makers, regulators, financial advisers, entrepreneurs, the media and various other stakeholders, created an opportunity for representatives of all the major sectors to find a common ground on issues relating to governance and economic growth.
At the first plenary, Nathan Mintah, Co-founder of 8th Miles LLP London, spoke fundamentally of how nations could harness their resources and development strides to grow their economies.
He said: “Investors do have a critical role to foster good governance. Nonetheless, the most significant issues here are the enabling factors and the effort put in to make this a reality. Nigeria and Nigerians must set clear standards to be adopted by investors.”
Mintah pointed out that while the nation was feeling richer with an over-night doubled GDP, there was need to note that the sum of the country’s Capital Market penetration was also doubled.
The Chairman of the NBA Section on Business, Gbenga Oyebode, had in his earlier remarks highlighted the need for good and exemplary governance, particularly in a year where the Nigerian economy and GDP figure had been rebased.
“While we have become the biggest economy on the continent, it is important to recognise that we cannot achieve success without good governance.
“If we have an exemplary government, we will have more investments. The rules that govern investment in other parts of the world are the same as those that guide investments in Nigeria,” he stated, noting that even with a rebased economy, actual development cannot be realised without good governance.
Also speaking at this session, President and CEO of Africa Finance Corporation, Andrew Alli, established how governments of all kinds affect investment; positively or negatively. “Bad policy affects investments, and so do good policies,” he announced.
“For a country like Nigeria, we have to look at the stock exchange and valuation differences first and then the deficit in our economy needs to be closed. In spite of our deficit, we can be top 10 in the world’s economy if we work toward closing them,” Alli stated.
At the second plenary session, CEO, Financial Derivatives Company Ltd, Bismarck Rewane, spoke about the concepts of growth and development, as well as the concept of governance institutions and economic performance.
In his view, economic growth was largely driven by increase in the quantity of resources, increase in the quality of resources (education), improvements in technology, and annual percentage increases in Real GDP represent the economic growth rate. While he noted a broader concept than growth, which captures structural, quantitative and qualitative changes in an economy, all focused on increases in living standards.
Rewane established clear links between strong institutions and economic development, noting that the top 10 most competitive countries in the world today share strengths in a strong institutional framework, such as the rule of law, transparency and accountability in the public sector, as well as an independent judiciary.
“Governance structures enhance business confidence by ensuring a level playing field, highly developed financial markets and excellent infrastructure that boost competitiveness further,” he said
“Economic growth without development occurs when GDP increases without actual improvements in living standards due to corruption by politicians, increased military spending at the expense of education and healthcare and also, where this growth comes only from capital intensive sectors, as opposed to one in a labour-intensive sector like agriculture,” he also added.
The session that focused on enhancing economic development was largely attended by key players in financial services and the business community.
Among those present at the conference were the Governor of Lagos State Babatunde Raji Fashola, SAN; MD/CEO Guinness Nigeria plc, Seni Adetu, Chairman, Skye Bank, Tunde Ayeni, Executive Secretary Board of Trustees, Lagos State Security Trust Fund, Fola Authur-Worrey, Presiding Justice of the Court of Appeal Lagos, Hon. Justice Amina Augie, Hon. Justice Mohammed Idris of the Federal High Court, and Dr. Doyin Salami of the Lagos Business School.
The 2014 theme, ‘EXEMPLARY GOVERNANCE – ENHANCING ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IN NIGERIA, was well received by participants due to the focus on the aspirations of business lawyers in the development of the economy.
Theodora Kio-Lawson