Former Minister of Finance, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has offered her thought on what Nigeria should do mitigate the impact of the economic low tide that has hit the country.
The outbreak of the dreadful coronavirus pandemic has thrown enosis of nations in doldrums, with all seeking measures to lessen the impact on their jurisdiction.
Tthe greatest casualty of the pandemic so far has been crude oil prices which touched unprecedented low in recent days, compounding Nigeria’s situation as the commodity is the major foreign exchange earner for the county.
Following a glut in the market, Nigeria is said to have many vessels laden with crude oil with no buying coming forth.
It is against this background that Okonjo-Iweala would want Nigeria to restructure her economy to be weaned of shocks of commodity markets.
Appearing on Channels TV’s Business Morning on Thursday, the former World Bank managing director said that Nigeria and other African countries must look at other sources of revenue to cushion the economic impact of dwindling oil prices.
She said Nigeria has several sources of revenue it should tap to create employment for the teeming masses.
She called on Nigeria to look into the tourism, and creative sectors, among others, to shore up revenue.
“There will be business cycles with commodity prices. What you also need to do is make the economy less dependent on these commodities,” she said.
Okonjo-Iweala said learning how to task these sources of revenue should be a long-term plan.
“And that is why on the long term, there should be restructuring of the economy so that you have other sources that can create revenue,” she added.
Also, she said: “You have to look across board and say, ‘are we getting enough from these sectors,’” adding that “It is not just diversifying your economy, you have to diversify your sources of revenue; meaning you have to tax better.”
