
June 7, 2024/CSL Research
Following intense strike action by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) demanding an upward review of the minimum wage for all public workers in the country, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has tasked the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr. Wale Edun, with designing a viable economic plan. This plan aims to stabilize economic volatility, fast-track economic recovery, and mitigate the impact of the ongoing economic reforms of this administration on the populace.
Structured to address the President’s economy-related “8 Priorities,” the plan recommends interventions in four critical areas with an estimated expenditure of N6.6 trillion. These areas are Agriculture and Food Security, Energy (Power and Gas), Health and Social Welfare and Business Support.
Some expected outcomes from the plans by the various committees include several significant targets:
▪ Agriculture: Increase the output of staple crops grown by individual farmers by 6%, from 127 million MT in 2023 to 135 million MT in 2024 and improve access to mechanization.
▪ Oil Production: Enhance oil production to 2 million barrels per day (mbpd) by the end of 2024, up from the current level of approximately 1.4 mbpd.
▪ Gas Production: Boost investments to achieve production levels of 11,500 million standard cubic feet per day (mmscfd) of gas by 2027.
▪ Power Supply: Deliver 6 GW of power to the grid by December 2024 within a fully market-based structure, up from the current 4.5 GW.
▪ Economic Growth: Attain a GDP growth rate of 3.7% in 2024.
▪ Business support: Improve access to finance and create 5 million direct and indirect jobs over a 12-month period.
In the last one year of President Tinubu’s administration, Nigeria’s economy has faced macroeconomic headwinds such as high inflation (up 1128bps to 33.69%), high interest rates (up 775bps to 26.25%), and a volatile exchange rate, with Naira depreciating by 68.8% to N1481.49/US$ as of Thursday, 06 June 2024.
These factors have created an uncertain business environment and hindered economic activities for individuals, SMEs, and big corporations.
Also, with food inflation reaching a new high (40.53%), many more Nigerians have been pushed below the poverty line. We believe effective and thorough implementation is needed to execute these strategic economic plans to prevent a vicious cycle of “all talk and no results.”