The federal government has taken a swipe on the private sector for Nigeria’s poor economic performance saying that the sector has refused to key in to the government initiatives aimed at returning the nation’s ailing economy to the part of sustainable growth.
The federal government said instead of applying themselves to the well-thought-out sets of policies that evolved from public/private sector partnership (PPP), the private sector operatives prefer to go the easy way that hardly adds value to the economy at the end of the day.
Professor Sylvester Monye, executive secretary to the National Planning Commission, said members of the nation’s private sector prefer to go to Abuja to harass government functionaries instead of channelling their resources to the real sector of the economy.
Monye said banks’ chief executives officers are the worse culprits. According to him, every Monday morning they rush to the federal capital in search of deposits instead of working to establish the age-long synergy that has existed between banks and real sector which is the catalyst for economic development.
The National Economic Summit (Nes) is a three-day annual event jointly organised by the federal government, represented by the National Planning Commission (NPC) and the private sector, represented by the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG).
Titled “Putting Nigeria to Work: Reinforcing Partnerships for Political and Economic Development”, the 17th summit will seek to build consensus on the appropriate strategy for tackling Nigeria’s unemployment crisis and the role of both the public and private sectors in this endeavour.
Unemployment is currently estimated at 20 per cent by the National Bureau of Statistics for 2010. Youth unemployment amongst 15-24 year olds is 32 per cent and 47.5 per cent among 25-44 year olds. These high figures are in spite of the steady seven per cent and GDP growth in recent years.
The summit, which serves as a veritable platform for discussing issues of national development has become the largest annual most prestigious economic forum for policy makers, captains of industry and development experts from the public and private sectors of the Nigerian economy, as well as the representatives of the academia, development partners and the civil society organisations.
Mr. Frank Nweke Jr., director-general of NESG and a former minister of information, said the summit has over the years contributed immensely to strengthening the relationship between the public and private sectors on issues relating to socio-economic development of the country.
He said in 2009, the World Bank led a study titled ‘Putting Nigeria to Work: A strategy for employment and growth’ which concluded that in spite of the sustained, high and broad- based growth due to sound macroeconomic policies, unemployment had not declined significantly since 1999.
The joint planning committee for the summit has contacted former Brazilian president, Mr. Lula Da Silva, as special guest of honour. He is expected to share his experience on development milestones achieved during his tenure. It will be recalled that Da Silva’s tenure witnessed the transformation of Brazil to a robust and leading economy in Southern America, with global acclaim. Similarly, eminent Nigerians and international speakers, such as Dr. Oby Ezekwesili, vice president (African Region), World Bank and Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola, governor of Lagos State will be in attendance to address the audience.
Mr. Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, will also address the financial regulators forum with a view to appraising developments in the sector while giving further insights on future policy directions.
The federal government said instead of applying themselves to the well-thought-out sets of policies that evolved from public/private sector partnership (PPP), the private sector operatives prefer to go the easy way that hardly adds value to the economy at the end of the day.
Professor Sylvester Monye, executive secretary to the National Planning Commission, said members of the nation’s private sector prefer to go to Abuja to harass government functionaries instead of channelling their resources to the real sector of the economy.
Monye said banks’ chief executives officers are the worse culprits. According to him, every Monday morning they rush to the federal capital in search of deposits instead of working to establish the age-long synergy that has existed between banks and real sector which is the catalyst for economic development.
The National Economic Summit (Nes) is a three-day annual event jointly organised by the federal government, represented by the National Planning Commission (NPC) and the private sector, represented by the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG).
Titled “Putting Nigeria to Work: Reinforcing Partnerships for Political and Economic Development”, the 17th summit will seek to build consensus on the appropriate strategy for tackling Nigeria’s unemployment crisis and the role of both the public and private sectors in this endeavour.
Unemployment is currently estimated at 20 per cent by the National Bureau of Statistics for 2010. Youth unemployment amongst 15-24 year olds is 32 per cent and 47.5 per cent among 25-44 year olds. These high figures are in spite of the steady seven per cent and GDP growth in recent years.
The summit, which serves as a veritable platform for discussing issues of national development has become the largest annual most prestigious economic forum for policy makers, captains of industry and development experts from the public and private sectors of the Nigerian economy, as well as the representatives of the academia, development partners and the civil society organisations.
Mr. Frank Nweke Jr., director-general of NESG and a former minister of information, said the summit has over the years contributed immensely to strengthening the relationship between the public and private sectors on issues relating to socio-economic development of the country.
He said in 2009, the World Bank led a study titled ‘Putting Nigeria to Work: A strategy for employment and growth’ which concluded that in spite of the sustained, high and broad- based growth due to sound macroeconomic policies, unemployment had not declined significantly since 1999.
The joint planning committee for the summit has contacted former Brazilian president, Mr. Lula Da Silva, as special guest of honour. He is expected to share his experience on development milestones achieved during his tenure. It will be recalled that Da Silva’s tenure witnessed the transformation of Brazil to a robust and leading economy in Southern America, with global acclaim. Similarly, eminent Nigerians and international speakers, such as Dr. Oby Ezekwesili, vice president (African Region), World Bank and Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola, governor of Lagos State will be in attendance to address the audience.
Mr. Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, will also address the financial regulators forum with a view to appraising developments in the sector while giving further insights on future policy directions.
