Why Nigeria needs chance to reset, diversify and position for digital economy: CBN

*The Central Bank of Nigeria says the local industry should be given the chance to grow as it would create more job opportunities in view of the current high rate of unemployment in the country

*Digital Economy has come to stay, and people are doing well there. We need to support our young people to make use of the digital economy ─WTO DG Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala

Isola Moses | ConsumerConnect

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has said the though the country is open to business in any part of the world, it needs to be given a chance to reset and diversify its economy.

ConsumerConnect reports Mr. Godwin Emefiele, Governor of CBN, stated this Tuesday, March 16 during a meeting with the visiting WTO Director-General, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, at the Bank’s Headquarters in Abuja, FCT.

Okonjo-Iweala has also held meetings with public health officials dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic, women entrepreneurs, and representatives from industry groups and micro, small and medium-sized enterprises in the country.

During the meetings, the Director-General has discussed her ongoing efforts in Geneva, Switzerland, to help WTO members deliver concrete results, on issues including fisheries subsidies and accelerating COVID-19 vaccine production, in the months leading up to the 12th Ministerial Conference later this year.

She met with other government officials, including the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, entrepreneurs, and other stakeholders about their experiences, needs and concerns with the trading environment within Africa and around the world.

The WTO Director-General, who was received by a delegation led Mr. Godwin Emefiele, Governor of CBN, on her arrival stated that Nigeria has enough resources and opportunities to exit the recession.

In describing what trade and the WTO can do to help the Nigerian economy grow and diversify during the meeting with the Governor of CBN and other top officials, she spoke on how Nigeria can exit recession and the need to embrace the digital economy.

It was learnt the WTO Chief noted that some WTO members had expressed concerns about Nigeria’s foreign exchange (Forex) management.

The CBN Governor and WTO Director-General met and discussed shortly after new data showing that inflation hit a four-year high in January, and a third of workers were unemployed in the last three months of 2020, according to report.

The Bankers’ Bank, in seeking to conserve its Dollar reserves, has curbed access to the interbank market for a wide range of importers, hoping to boost local production.

Since 2015, the CBN has maintained a multiple currency regime to manage pressure on the Naira.

Okonjo-Iweala said: “I think we have what it takes in the country, particularly our young people to do the necessary which is to move forward as to how we are going to create jobs and move this economy in the direction that would support our youths in the future.

“There are opportunities that can be used in improving trade so that our economy can climb out of this pandemic recession that we are in faster than would have been the case.”

The country also needs to embrace trade remedies and a digital economy to help Nigerian industries, said she.

According to her, “WTO has what we call trade remedies. Without banning things we can … protect our industries against dumping and cheap imports if we use those remedies. We can use those remedies as a tool to help our industries.

“Digital Economy has come to stay, and people are doing well there. We need to support our young people to make use of the digital economy.”

Okonjo-Iweala restated this is a big task before the country, and conversations must start in that direction while the creative industry should not be neglected as it creates more jobs for the youths.

In response, Mr. Emefiele, said the local (Nigerian) industry should be given the room to grow as it would create more job opportunities, given the rate of high unemployment at the moment.

In a statement after the meeting, the Governor stressed though Nigeria is open to business in any part of the world, the country needs to be given a chance to reset and diversify its economy.

“Godwin Emefiele says Nigeria needs to be given a chance to reset and diversify its economy, just as he reiterated the determination of the CBN (Central Bank of Nigeria) to address identified deficiencies in the Nigerian economy,” said the statement.

It as well noted that “Mr. Emefiele said Nigeria’s position on trade was necessitated by the drive to protect local industries to create jobs and employment.”

According to the CBN Governor, stimulus packages and the restructuring of loans as measures have been used to reduce the impacts of the disruptive Coronavirus pandemic on the West African country’s economy.

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