Agriculture, manufacturing, as well as Informational and Communication Technology sectors will be the focus of the next Nigeria Economic Summit.
The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, disclosed this at a press briefing ahead of the 25th NES themed ‘Nigeria 2050: Shifting Gears’holding on October 7 and 8 in Abuja.
The minister said, “The conference will focus on six key sectors of agriculture, manufacturing, ICT, financial services, creative industries as well as extractive industries. This is because the summit will be setting a new agenda for Nigeria to key into the fourth industrial revolution.”
According to her, the summit, which is organised by the Nigeria Economic Summit Group in partnership with the Federal Government through the Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning, serves as an avenue for robust discussion between the public and private sectors.
“Since the inception of the summit in 1993, the public and the private sectors, civil society organisations and academia have always come together with recommendations that help in shaping the Federal Government’s key economic policies.
“There is urgent need for a robust competitive private sector through innovation of ideas in the macro-economic environment to cater for Nigeria’s huge population, most of whom are under the age of 35, to set agenda for Nigeria to key into the fourth revolution.
“The summit will also discuss the role of state governments in enhancing competitiveness through a stable macroeconomic growth that will drive economic growth and productivity of the Nigerian populace,” she explained.
Zainab maintained that the summit, over the years, had birthed key economic policies of the government including the Economic and Recovery Growth Plan,which expires by 2020.
Earlier, the chairman of NESG, Asue Ighodalo, had remarked that the summit would be focusing on enhancing private sector growth and productivity.
The chairman said, “Only a competitive private sector growth can guarantee a conducive environment for Nigeria’s businesses and her huge population, which is estimated to hit 400m by 2050.
“This is why the summit this year will be a convergence point for thorough discussions between government and the private sector to advance the growth and productivity of the country.”
