Nigeria’s President, Muhammadu Buhari, has said there is a need to sustain the diversification of the economy already achieved by this administration by leveraging on various growth sectors, strengthening linkages and enhancing value chain.
He said this while declaring open the 27th Annual National Conference of the Association of National Accountants of Nigeria, ANAN.
Buhari, represented by the Minister of State, Budget and National Planning, Prince Clem Agba, disclosed that a national development plan has been developed to respond to the challenges of a mono-economy with two broad objectives which are;
Investing in the social infrastructure and services required to alleviate poverty, and promoting development opportunities across States to minimise regional economic and social disparities.
“To this end, we have facilitated a National Development Plan 2021-2025. This Plan is in alignment with all the regional 4 agenda including the AU Agenda 2063 and the Sustainable Development Goals, SDGs, 2030. The Vision of the plan is to make Nigeria a country that has unlocked its potential in all sectors of the economy for sustainable, holistic, and inclusive national development. The associated broad objectives of the Plan are to establish a strong foundation for a Concentric diversified economy, with robust MSME growth, and a more-resilient business environment, to invest in critical physical, financial, digital innovation, infrastructure, to build a solid framework and to enhance capacities to strengthen security and ensure good governance, and to enable a vibrant, educated, and healthy population.”
National Development Plan
The President said the national development plan will equally ensure concentric economic diversification, stimulate the manufacturing sector’s ability to increase the value chain and create jobs, increase product complexity and competitiveness, encourage massive investment in infrastructure and human capital development and adopt a pragmatic approach to fiscal management.
“The Plan seeks to invest massively in infrastructure, ensure macroeconomic stability, enhance the investment environment and improve on the social indicators and living conditions of the people. Specifically, the Plan aims to generate 21 million full-time jobs and lift 35 million people out of poverty by 2025;
“Thus, setting the stage for achieving the government’s commitment of lifting 100 million Nigerians out of poverty in 10 years. The Plan will also address binding domestic growth constraints, improve Plan implementation majorly affected by political and policy changes, strengthen links between the Plan and the Annual Budgets, improve inter-sectoral collaboration, ensure harmonised efforts with states and create the enabling environment for increased private sector investment.”
He added that the country can accomplish all these by leveraging on all sectors to unleash Nigeria’s potentials for industrialisation and economic growth stating that;
“The Accountancy profession must be at the forefront of the efforts to promote probity and accountability in public policy conceptualizations, formulation, and implementation.
“I therefore urge members of this association to support government reforms and initiatives aimed at bolstering transparency and accountability in the implementation, monitoring and evaluation of public policies and projects. Access to quality financial and economic information is an imperative while the ability of citizens to challenge and question irresponsible behavior must be strengthened”.
Robust Diversification
President of ANAN and chairman of council Professor Benjamin Osisioma said unlike previous years, the 2022 annual national conference is hinged on two themes; ensures efficient use of resources by addressing critical themes in a single conference observing that Africa has suffered a persistent development paradox, being rich with the world’s poorest nations.
“In seeking a solution to reverse the ugly trend, African Union’s agenda 2063 proffers a robust prescription that promises everyone the Africa we want. For ANAN helping to identify and proffer solutions to the plethora of challenges mitigating against attaining Agenda 2063 represents important, social, economic and professional responsibilities to the Nigerian and African economies”.
Prof. Osisioma emphasised that economic prosperity for Nigeria and Africa is the urgent need to transit from the mono-economic commodity economy with its risks of inflation to a solid and stable diversified economy.
“In Nigeria for instance, the oil sector provides for 95 percent of the foreign exchange earnings and 80 percent of its budgetary revenue. This is manifestly antithetical to sustainable development. Paradoxically, within the Nigerian economy lies the hugely ignored force for development, the informal sector, which accounts for over 65 percent of the economy. Women constitute the most significant number in this sector and are often treated as weak economic agents”.
He said the conference should produce a workable blue print that would wake the slumbering potentials of Nigeria and Africa to create a sustainable society.
One time minister of Information and chairman of the conference, Professor Jerry Gana said that agenda 2063 is a shared strategic framework for inclusive growth and sustainable development.
He added that it’s a global strategy to use Africa’s resources for the benefit of all of Africa and that the agenda seeks to galvanise Africa and the diaspora around a peaceful, prosperous and integrated continent.
“It seeks to harness Africa’s resources and creative synergies to provide an equitable and people-centered growth and development forces.
“The agenda seeks to provide coherence of plans, strategies and ideas for Africa’s development. The success of agenda 2063 will depend on unity of purpose, transparency, sound government, placing priority on the security of the African people and consistent investments in productivity and social infrastructure.”
Professor Gana described agenda 2063 as result oriented, coherent policies, good result mobilisation strategies and the capacity to finance huge development initiatives.
He told members of the Association of Accountants of Nigeria, ANAN, that; “You are the professionals who will help us develop a transparent accounting system that will make corruption impossible, you can do it we know you have the wisdom, we know you have the capacity, we know you have the knowledge and therefore let me challenge ANAN to design a kind of account system for the federal republic of Nigeria that will make corruption almost impossible it is possible and you can do it.”
Keynote speaker at the conference, Dr. Vickson Ncube who spoke extensively on “Overcoming Challenges to Africa’s Development: Agenda 2063 in Perspective” said the continent must depend on its diversity for sustainable economic growth rather than see each person or group through the prism of ethnicity and religion.
“We cannot continue, we shall not continue to wait until others have succeeded to begin to try, we cannot wait on the dollar or Euro, these days there are crypto currencies that have come out, why can’t the African Union come up with a crypto currency that can be used all over Africa to protect ourselves against imported inflation.”
Dr. Ncube said Africa shall be a strong continent and that Africans must move away from segmenting its population within the lower, middle and upper classes, strive to achieve a classless and inclusive society that is “politically enlightened, a people guided by Pan Africanism who realise that Africa is our own motherland, Fashion’d with and blessed by God’s good hand, Let us her people join as one, Brothers under the sun. All one, strong and free,” he adviced.
Continental Perspective
Chairperson of conferences, workshops and publicity and second vice chairman of ANAN, Zuwaira Kishimi said the conference themes take a continental perspective to interpret the “Nigerian and African development paths as it examines the dynamics that could negatively affect the realisation of Agenda 2063, which forms the bedrock that supports the development agenda of African nations including Nigeria”.
Chief Executive Officer of ANAN, Dr, Kayode Fasua said it is a matter of great responsibility for governments at all levels to take on the increasingly complex and emerging challenges daunting Africa by leveraging benefits of industrialisation, digital economy, mining, energy and the creative economy.
“Professional accountants will play a key role in enabling organisations and governments to solve present and economic challenges and drive productivity”.
Fasua added that “ANAN as a premium brand of choice has over the years been at the fore front of delivering professional accountancy services and advocacy engagement and we are resolute in our drive to foster impactful engagements for the development of the Nigerian nation and the African continent”.
A book titled “The ANAN Story” celebrating forty years of the association was launched by Prince Clem Agba on behalf of President Muhammadu Buhari.
The theme for the 27th annual national conference of the Association of Accountants of Nigeria ANAN, is Overcoming Challenges to Africa’s Development: Agenda 2063 in Perspective and Economic Diversification and Informal Sector Growth.
Hauwa Abu
