President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has outlined his vision for Nigeria to emerge as a trillion-dollar economy within the next ten years, leveraging its abundant population and resources. Tinubu expressed this optimism during the opening session of the 2023 National Engineering Conference, Exhibition, and Annual General Meeting of the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE) in Abuja.
Represented by Vice President Kashim Shettima at the event, President Tinubu highlighted ongoing initiatives focusing on job creation, capital access for businesses, inclusiveness, the rule of law, and the fight against hunger, poverty, and corruption to facilitate this economic transformation.
However, Tinubu emphasized the need to consider the key elements encapsulated in the theme of the NSE Conference, “Manufacturing, Competitiveness, and Economic Growth,” for the ambitious target to be achievable.
Acknowledging the temporary challenges faced by most Nigerians, Tinubu asserted, “The difficult times are indeed temporary, but the benefits will be permanent.” He underscored the administration’s commitment to addressing issues such as access to low-cost capital, multiple taxation, infrastructure challenges, foreign exchange, and export obstacles.
On taxation, Tinubu outlined the government’s goal to increase tax revenues while reducing the burden on individuals and businesses. He explained the strategy to achieve this, stating, “By streamlining the number of taxes, introducing greater efficiency, and blocking the loopholes through which leakages occur, we can and will deliver less burdensome tax regimes to businesses and employers of labour.”
Regarding foreign exchange, the president highlighted efforts to create a transparent price discovery system, attracting substantial inflows into a well-run official market. Tinubu also discussed infrastructure support, including seed financing for a transformational Infrastructure Fund and reforms in petrol subsidies leading to increased subnational revenues.
Additionally, he announced the creation of a new single-digit interest-rate Fund to provide N75 billion to support manufacturing enterprises and other targeted financing interventions.
Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, echoed the focus on infrastructure, referencing the Federal Government National Integrated Infrastructure Master Plan (NIIMP), which envisions a $2.3 trillion investment over the next 23 years to address Nigeria’s infrastructure deficit.
