Nigerians Not Getting Benefit Of Tinubu’s Economic Reforms- NACCIMA

President, Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA), Dele Oye has accused the federal government of crowding out the private sector with harsh economic policies, adding that many Nigerians are not benefiting from current reforms.

The NACCIMA boss said this following a release by the World Bank stating that the poverty rate in Africa’s most populous economy will rise due to its fragile economy, governance issues, and reliance on crude oil.

“Poverty in resource-rich, fragile countries, including large economies like Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of Congo, is projected to increase by 3.6 percentage points between 2022 and 2027,” World Bank’s latest Africa’s Pulse report said.

The World Bank further predicted that poverty will continue to rise in the coming years, potentially reaching 56 per cent by 2027.

During a monitored interview on Tuesday on Arise TV, Oye acknowledged some of the policies of the Bola Tinubu administration but argued that the policies are not lifting people out of poverty.

Oye said, “While we are moving very well, we will have a budget deficit of $6.8bn. The poverty index has been growing, which means the real people, the real Nigerians, are not getting any benefit. And with the current projection, it’s alarming, and there’s something in that report to say the government needs to hold gently.

“Since they’ve been doing it alone by themselves, it did not work. They need to work with the private sector, and stay as regulators, provide the enabling environment for businesses to thrive.”

Oye argued that the government is competing with private sector, adding that it inhibits economic growth.

According to him, the federal government is crowding out the private sector in terms of borrowings and excessive taxes.

Oye cited instances of 15 per cent tax on Free Trade Zones introduced in the 2024 tax bill and issues around the 30 to 40 per cent interest rate, which commercial banks charge.

He said they do not support industry growth.

The NACCIMA boss said, “If the government can reduce its deficit financing, reduce its borrowing, they will even cap the borrowing for the public sector. The interbank rate will fall and the interest rate will fall. And the central bank supporting that, you will see that we have a different ecosystem where everyone can access loans.

“Government doesn’t even have the money to give. So, there are ways we have a strategy as a private sector where we can encourage the government to reduce their own borrowing and deficit financing and give us space, so they don’t crowd us out of the market.”

According to him, the government is also competing with the private sector by going abroad to order for equipment and materials without input from the private sector.

He said, “Take for example, the recent decision to ask for them to provide incentives for people to import some agriculture products.

“They did not give those contracts or the licenses to people who already invested in that sector. And we had a lot of complaints and reports from our members that those importations would destroy their own efforts if already made.

“If that kind of concession were given to them, the profit they probably would have made would have been applied for them to reinvest in that sector.”

He advised the government to partner with the private sector in the administration of targeted interventions.

“Instead of sending money, N50,000 the way they’ve been doing it to people who have not yielded anything, you can use our cooperatives, you can use our platforms, and give us a target,” Oye said.

The NACCIMA boss also criticised the $220m fine imposed on Meta by the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission.

He said the FCCPC did not seek industry input before imposing the fine on Meta.

He said, “The issue of unnecessary fines, like the FCCPC fines $220 million on Meta. How can you justify that? That can only scare our investors. And they’ve only told us in six months, we won’t have access to WhatsApp. So we need to have a coordinated approach.

“We should have industry input before they make some of these decisions. We don’t know the basis, but I don’t think it’s the right way to go.”

Nigerians Not Getting Benefit Of Tinubu’s Economic Reforms- NACCIMA is first published on The Whistler Newspaper