Wale Edun, Nigeria’s Finance Minister, is really very promising. His speech at a recent World Bank/IMF event showed a man who just wants to get things done, no politics. If the government could isolate him from the vagaries and miry clay of politics, something great could happen from him.
Of course, this is not to say that 2024 will not be challenging, but if they give him room to work, things will improve. At N26 trillion for the 2024 fiscal year, the budget is VERY low, since about 50% will likely go into debts servicing. By the time you remove emoluments for workers and defense allocations, Nigeria may not have any funds for any serious capital project.
Interestingly, that may be for a purpose, and by that I mean massive reorganization of the economy where the private sector takes more positions. He dropped a hint while in Morocco for the World Bank/IMF event: “We emphasized access to investment capital, particularly from the private sector and at a large scale, as well as the need to support private sector development”.
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Nations rarely kaput; we’re hoping that Nigeria’s economy gets back to life.
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My Response: We went to the world bank/ IMF meeting and said that the institutions don’t have funds to lend to us .judging from what I have seen and heard so far” – people are frustrated with me because I am apolitical and non-partisan. I can attack today, and praise today, depending on how I evaluate policies. At my age, I should be very comfortable that I can speak my feelings because I do not need anything from any government or politician.
Your challenge is that he needs to be against the government. While I do not defend Tinubu’s government, your statement that the World Bank “don’t have funds to lend to us “ is a lie. Two days ago, the World Bank dropped a $1.5b loan which the National Assembly accepted. Google it.
As always, I do not need anything from Nigeria. But I desire that people have the opportunities it gave me.
Comment 2: The proposed N26 trillion you termed small will be realised from where? We are not even going to generate the numbers, at least from what has been stated so far. The exchange rate set at N700/$ was based on what exactly, market or government sentiment? The more NNPCL pays for the differentials in petrol (unofficial) subsidy, the more they are not likely to remit anything substantial as proceeds from crude oil sales.
Our system is broken and unsustainable, but we have mastered how to live in denial, even when our collapse is self-evident.
Dollar is exchanging for N1100 in the ‘real’ market, but we had so much to gift brand new cars to our utterly irresponsible and insensitive legislative arm. After our usual wanton misadventures and malfeasance, we start hoping that things will somewhat be better for Nigerians. This level of buffoonery is both amazing and thrilling. It’s unreal.
Whatever we breed and groom here as humans need to be reexamined once again, because we are too strange to qualify as proper humans.
Wale Edun won’t perform any magic, because the very ground he’s standing on is still running, and the sky is warming up to shift as well.
Comment 3: Honestly, I see a country where the redesign and refocus of the economy is looming. This man seem to be one of those that can perform the magic wand if given sometime. At this point, having a private sector led economy is a positive indicator of good things to come. The other day, he has lifted restrictions on 43 items for FX sales to ensure the floating rate FX regime works. This is also a step in the right direction. Although times are hard now, but this seem to be a global phenomenon. I stand by good policies irrespective of where it is coming from.
Comment 4: The motto of the Federal University of Agriculture in Abeokuta is “knowledge for development” and that of Joseph Sarwuan Tarka University (formerly the Makurdi University of Agriculture) is “innovation and service”.
His Excellency can use his discretionary funds to recruit 120 of the world’s best university professors and researchers in the fields of agriculture, soil science and food to come and teach and research at these two universities, making them the best in the world within two decades while empowing local farmers across the country
This economic initiative has the potential to add $3.6 trillion to the country’s GDP in the space of twenty years within an AfCFTA context and if only the best in the world are selected on the basis of merit from countries like the Netherlands and the United States.
This minister will never be forgotten.
(Netherlands has 1 million ha of arable land and export food worth $52 billion a year. Nigeria has 70 million ha of arable land and export food worth $1.2 billion a year. The best agriculture university in the world is in the Netherlands. Now $52 billion X 70…).
This policy can be applied to any country in SSA.
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