The Nigeria Country Director, World Bank Group, Dr Ndiame Diop, has called on the Federal Government to infuse structural and economic reforms to transform Nigeria.
Diop stated this in Ibadan on Tuesday at the Distinguished Personality Lecture Series of the Department of Agricultural Economics, University of Ibadan (UI).
He said that economic transformation to create employment starts with agricultural transformation, adding “it must be balanced with technological advancement to harness both gains.”
Diop, who spoke on the ripple effect of embracing modernised agricultural practices to maximising land resources, said that embracing this economic transformation would reduce both rural and urban poverty as well as food prices.
He said policymakers should not focus on increasing agricultural productivity alone but must ensure structural transformation.
“Every industrialise nation that started economic transformation like Japan and United States priotised agricultural productivity growth along side technology.
“The challenges for Nigeria is that productivity remains too small for the size of the population leading to high importation of food worth $10 billion.
“Another is insufficient number of fast growing industry that can absorb the present labour force.
“The Nigeria agriculture sector is indeed growing fast but there are no employers at the scale the work force is growing.
“This is because they are still small in size or employees lack skills in technology advancement,” Diop said.
He commended the Federal Government and its economic team on the reforms so far taken to ensure macro and fiscal stability.
According to him, economic transformation is a long term venture, adding that rigorous monetary and fiscal policies are needed to woo foreign and local investors to invest.
“This is because predictability of the business environment is key to investment,” Diop said.
In his address, Senator Abubakar Bagudu, the Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, who was the Chairman of the occasion, said agriculture was one of the eight agenda of the Renewed Hope Initiative.
He stated that the country was not where it was supposed to be due to past failures, but assured that significant progress had been made to reposition Nigeria.
“And a major common factor is that we have under-invested literally in all areas of our national life.
“So, how do we quickly confront our reality, correct such under-investment, and position Nigeria so that we can achieve our goals and this is more so in agriculture?
“No doubt, agriculture is one of the priority areas of our agenda.
“So that’s why, given our uniqueness, and not surprisingly, the administration’s plan is to develop the agricultural sector to attain sovereignty, sufficiency, competitive advantage, and security,” Bagudu said.
The minister further said that the Renewed Hope Agenda has been an innovative driven agenda, which relies on educational interrogation and respectful knowledge.
“The National Agricultural Development Fund, for which over 150 billion Naira has been provided, the Renewed Hope Infrastructure Fund, that among others, recognises that if we build infrastructure, it should support economic activity,” Bagudu said.
According to him, the RHA supports the provision of dams even as road constructions are being executed.
Earlier, the Vice Chancellor, UI, Prof. Kayode Adebowale said the topic “Leveraging Agricultural Transformation for Sustainable Economic Development in Nigeria: Key Considerations” was apt and timely.
Adebowale, who was represented by the Dean of Science, Prof. Oludayo Sonibare, said that institution has been at the vanguard of ensuring collaboration between the ‘town’ and ‘gown’. (NAN)
