The Federal Government has said that relevant recommendations from the forth-coming 26th Nigerian Economic Summit (NES#26) will be mainstreamed into the Medium and Long-Term National Development Plans (MTNDP) 2021-205 and Nigeria Agenda 2050 currently being developed.
The Honourable Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning Mrs Zainab Ahmed disclosed this in Abuja while addressing a world press conference on the 26th Nigerian Economic Summit which is scheduled to hold from 26th-27th October, 2020.
The Minister said that, “The plans are to address development challenges in all aspects of the country’s national life and will be driven by the organized private sector while the government creates the enabling environment to facilitate growth and development and aligned to the continental Agenda (AU Agenda 2063) and Global Agenda (Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), 2030.”
Mrs Ahmed stated that the 26th Nigerian Economic Summit with the theme “Building Partnership for Resilience” would be a big conversation for public and private sector stakeholders to reflect on the state of the Nigerian economy, rethink the county’s economic fundamentals and deliberate on the impact of the global COVID -19 pandemic.
She added that as the architecture of post COVID-19 pandemic had yet to evolve “it is important Nigeria’s top policy makers and business leaders proactively converge to address the questions that presently confront the country. The summit will therefore emphasize the urgency to strengthen multi-stakeholders alliances between governments and businesses in co-creating a national strategy that will usher Nigeria in the decade of action.”
In his remarks, the Minister of State, Budget and National Planning, Prince Clem Ikanade Agba, said that NES#26 was unique as it was being hosted at a point when Nigeria and the world economy was passing through a challenging period due to the impact of COVID-19.
He expressed his expectation that the outcome of this year’s summit would further help enrich government plans in ensuring that the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the economy and the citizens was minimized.
Also speaking, the Chairman of the Nigerian Economic Summit Group, Mr Asue Ighodalo reiterated that “this year’s summit comes at a time when we are experiencing fundamental shifts in the trajectory of our economic growth and development but Nigeria will emerge stronger together.”
The chairman added that “the NESG remains committed to sustaining our partnership with the Federal Government of Nigeria to ensure we avoid a prolonged economic recession, improve the response-readiness of our healthcare systems, cushion the economic impact of the pandemic on business, avert structural unemployment (especially for our Youth) , ensure the free movement of goods and services across borders, strengthen our fiscal framework, unlock supply chains as well as expand digital infrastructure.”
The forthcoming summit will be underpinned by three pillars: Collaboration, Execution and Impact.
The pillars will run through all the sessions at the summit with a strong emphasis on reinforcing the role of sub-nationals as frontiers of economic growth and development as Nigeria build a more inclusive and sustainable economy.
Imaobong Udoh,
for:Director, Information,(BNP)
18/10/2020
