ChimonsBossChallengesFGonDiversification
The Federal Government has been advised to take advantage of the crash in oil price to begin an aggressive diversification of the economy.
Mr. Chibuike Achigbu, an engineer and chief executive of Chimons Ltd, a top oil and gas player, who gave the advise at a breakfast meeting with select entrepreneurs in Lagos, said successive governments refused to do the needful because of the oil windfall noting that the country is paying dearly for those economic management lapses due to the crash in crude oil prices.
The failure to leverage the gains of the oil windfall in the past to build a virile manufacturing based economy, he said, had made the Nigerian economy less resilient to the shocks of a unpredictable oil market.
He said the situation was likely to get worse as most developed economies of the world are fast developing alternative energy sources.
Instead of engaging in endless blame game, the government, he said, should of necessity and priority, think out of the box and creatively engage the economic challenges by deploying the expertise of the best brains in economic re-engineering that are in abundance in Nigeria.
Achigbu said that even with the fall in oil price, the sector was not a closed shop “but unfortunately, the investment choices in that sector has not allowed the potential to be fully developed and tapped in order to shore up the earnings from the oil and gas sector of the economy.”
He said that the emphasis on oil exploration and crude marketing narrowed down the value chain of that sector. “A country like Russia makes a fortune gas which is endlessly flared to waste in Nigeria with the environmental impact challenges. What level of attention has this received,” he queried.
According to him, “Nigeria has what it takes to be a major international player in tourism and Agriculture. What practical steps beyond talk shops have been taken to drive agriculture as a business and what have we done to develop and explore the huge opportunities in the tourism and entertainment sector. The questions are endless but this is time to walk the talk and do less of procrastination.
“It’s unfortunate and obviously a lazy man’s approach when governments feel that improved internally generated revenue (IGR) approximates to heavy taxes on citizens and businesses. A lot needs to be done to shore up the productive sector and heavy taxes without corresponding activities in the economy may force investors to look elsewhere within the sub-region.
“Government must cultivate and secure the buy in of local investors most of who enjoy the confidence of these foreign investors we waste time and resources to woo from abroad. Charity begins at home, the local investors should be turned into viable development partners because they understand the operating environment better, they are most likely to appreciate the challenges, imperatives and how best to walk around them to develop the country.”
Achigbu argued that though the investment climate is gloomy and the conditions tough, it is the business of a thinking government to institutionalize the enablement’s that would strengthen investor confidence.
According to him, the key to diversification of the economy does not lie in the number of workshops, or economic diplomatic shuttles held abroad but in having a robust interface with local or indigenous investors if any meaningful head way can be made in this direction. “The solution to the current economic challenges can easily be found here if the right policies and programmes are in place and the right steps taken, “he said.