The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)in the 2023 general elections, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, has given insight into how to grow an ailing economy as in Nigeria.
A concerned citizen had in a tweet, stated: Mindset @mindset_tweet “If I had a chance to ask @atiku one question during his @ARISEtv interview, I will have asked him; “What will you do differently in the Agric sector that you didn’t do as head of NEC when you were VP, to attract exports, raise our GDP and stabilize the Naira?” ~@AbuammarUp
Atiku in response highlighted that the country needs to export more, stabilize Naira exchange rate to grow the economy and raise the GDP. Atiku added that the government will have to restore investors’ confidence, fight insecurity, among others.
Accordingly, Atiku in series of tweets, highlighted: Atiku Abubakar @atiku
“Dear @AbuammarUp, To grow the economy (raise GDP), export more, and stabilise the Naira are all interrelated. “Stimulating exports requires a coherent and investor-friendly foreign exchange policy that improves the global competitiveness of domestic enterprises.
“Larger volume of non-oil exports will earn more foreign exchange for Nigeria, improve our foreign reserves, and help in stabilizing the Naira. All of these will contribute to growth in GDP. What will I do?
“First, we will restore investor confidence in our economy so that they take risk and invest capital especially in the non-oil sector. This we can achieve by being more consistent and coherent in our economic policies (policy flip-flops sends investors away).
“Also, by fighting insecurity. Investment is a coward animal and fears conflicts and insecurity. Secondly, within the first 100 days in office, we shall unveil an Economic Stimulus Fund with an initial investment capacity of approximately US$10 billion.
“This is to support private sector investments in infrastructure and to prioritize support to agriculture, manufacturing and the MSMEs across all the economic sectors, as they offer the greatest opportunities for achieving inclusive growth.
“In the agricultural sector, we shall elevate irrigation to a top policy priority and support both small holder and commercial farmers to cultivate at least 10% of the potential irrigable land-(currently only 2% is under cultivation).” -AA