At a high level business meeting with the US business community held under the auspices of the Corporate Council for Africa (CCA), Senator Udoma told investors that Nigeria was on the path of diversified inclusive growth; and President Muhammadu Buhari in his second term was focused on consolidation and further expansion of the investor-friendly policies of the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP).

CCA is at the forefront of strengthening and facilitating the commercial relationship between the United States and the African continent.

The audience was made up of top America investors, some of them already doing business in Nigeria.

Fundamentals of the Nigerian economy are strong and the main indices are positive and growing, he told them; and “oil prices are stable and the convergence in foreign exchange windows has helped in reducing inflation and rebuilding external buffers. 2017 was better than 2016, just as 2018 was better than 2017, and 2019 will be even better,” he assured investors.

While indicating that the economy was projected to grow by 3.01% in 2019 with single digit inflation (9.98%), the Minister said Nigeria was focused on diversification of the economy in partnership with the private sector; explaining that with the development of Special Economic Zones, Nigeria intends to exploit the comparative advantages of the six geo-political zones and the 36 states by establishing six Industrial Parks and 109 Special Production and Processing Centres across all 109 senatorial zones.

Government, he assured would continue to invest in infrastructure, particularly in power, roads, ports and rail, in partnership with the private sector.

He said government was encouraging Public Private Partnerships and tax incentives were also being provided to encourage the private sector to participate in the provision of public facilities, for instance the Executive Order 007 on Road Infrastructure Development and Refurbishment Investment Tax Credit Scheme.

The businessmen were informed that efforts to improve infrastructure would be complemented by reforms to make it easier to do business with the aim of achieving a ranking of less than 100 in the World Bank’s ease of doing business survey.

Also Investments in Human capital, as well as Poverty Reduction initiatives, were being stepped up, he stated.

The Minister said implementation of the ERGP had restored growth in  GDP.

Other macroeconomic indicators such as capital inflows, foreign reserves, trade balance, and Manufacturing Performance Managers Index (PMI), he said, had been showing improvements, while inflation had been trending down.

Government, he added, was focused on building a globally competitive economy as the ERGP sought to stimulate growth by leveraging the power of the private sector and allowing markets to function.

Also, “Government is committed to human capital development. Investments in the social investment programme are already yielding great results. Momentum is building up and we are moving in the right direction,” he added.

Government, he stressed, was committed to creating an enabling environment for investors wishing to do business by removing bottlenecks and easing bureaucratic constraints to doing business in Nigeria.

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He therefore called on agencies whose focus are on geospatial data generation and mapping to help generate data that can help both Government and the private sector in planning more accurately based on established data.

That, he said, would further help in economic development and help government to achieve the objectives of the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP).

Senator Udoma in his remarks at the opening of a two-day workshop on Geo-Referenced Infrastructure and Data for Development (the GRID3) Use Case, in Abuja, said the potentials of geospatial data and technology applications became evident in Nigeria when it was first used for polio vaccination efforts through the GRID3 Project.

According to him, after an upsurge in polio cases in 2011, geospatial vaccination tracking efforts were put in place, which provided updated settlement maps, population data, and health ward boundaries.

“The data collected was integrated into a Vaccine Tracking System that allowed vaccinators to reach every settlement. As a result, polio cases dropped to zero by 2015. This example is a demonstration of the potential of evidence-based decision making and the power of geospatial data in providing solutions to development problems,” he said.

Following that success, according to him, it became obvious that geospatial data could also be useful in other areas of government concerns such as health, education, agriculture, water resources and infrastructural development.

The Minister said in order to develop that further, the Ministry of Budget and National Planning, working in collaboration with relevant development partners, established the Nigeria GRID3 secretariat and initiated consultations with stakeholders.

He recalled that in 2017 President Muhammadu Buhari launched the ERGP as a means of taking Nigeria out of recession and placing it back, not just on the path of growth, but a growth that was diversified, inclusive and sustainable.

“So, what the ERGP seeks to achieve is sustainable development. Apart from restoring growth, the ERGP commits the country to the objective of investing in our people and building a globally competitive economy. This requires that the capacity of government be continuously enhanced and improved,” Udoma stated.

The ERGP, he pointed out, recognised that laying the foundations for long term development required a dynamic, agile private sector that could innovate and respond to global opportunities.

Udoma said it was aimed at tackling the obstacles hindering the competitiveness of Nigeria, one of which was clearly the dearth of data in a timely and comprehensive manner.

He stated that he was of the view that Government and donor intervention could be critical in providing services that were either common or which the private sector would not find commercially viable to provide.

That was why, he said, such agencies as the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), under his Ministry, was playing a major role in supplying economic data.

“Geospatial data is a specialised area which requires unique expertise. And that is the importance of the GRID3 Project,” he added.

While acknowledging the contributions of development partners in the process of seeking better ways to tackle development challenges, he noted also that those assembled in workshop were the key stakeholders required to examine how GRID3 could effectively be deployed to support Nigeria’s development.

The funding partners include: the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the UK Department for International Development, and the implementing partners are WorldPop/Flowminder, the United Nations Population Fund and Columbia University’s Center for International Earth Science Information Network.

This workshop was designed to develop tools and applications that will aid our MDAs leverage on Geo-referenced data to effectively utilize Nigeria’s resources to deliver economic development; develop modalities that ensure effective collection, storage, retrieval and analysis of the data as a timely input for Government policies and decisions; ensure that the right stakeholders including Academicians, CSOs and Private sector have timely access to appropriate data, to aid collective participation in National development; and finally develop a strategy to build the Capacity of various levels of government to effectively collect and use geo-referenced data for the development of various sectors and society.

Among those at the workshop were Dr John Primrose, Head of Department UK-DFID, Nigeria; Dr Paul Basinga, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation; Mr Keith Garreff,  Lead geospatial Operational Support Team from the World Bank; Dr Lorant Czaran, Lead, GRID 3 Project; Prof. Olajide Kuforiji, Surveying and Geo-Informatics Programme Director of OAU and representatives several related government institutions.

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He said already some steps were being taken in that direction.

While briefing the House of Representatives Joint Committee on Finance, Appropriation, Planning and Economic Development on the 2019 revenue and expenditure projections as contained in the Medium Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy Paper (MTEF/FSP) 2019-2021), the minister stated that one of the reasons it could not realise its revenue target for 2018 was that some one-off items listed for implementation in the fiscal year were not actualised.

But he said those items which included the N710 billion from Oil Joint Venture Asset Restructuring and N320 billion from revision of the Oil Production Sharing Contract Legislation/terms had been rolled over to 2019.

Among other initiatives aimed at expanding the fiscal space, the minister indicated that the Federal Government would intensify efforts to improve public financial management through the comprehensive implementation of the Treasury Single Account (TSA), the Government Integrated Financial Management Information System (GIFMIS) and the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS).

Also the Department of Petroleum Resources has been directed to, within three months, complete the collection of past-due oil license and royalty charges, including those due from Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC) (a subsidiary of NNPC), which it had agreed to pay since 2017.

The minister said the Ministry of Finance, working with all the relevant authorities, had been authorized to take action to liquidate all recovered, unencumbered assets within six months.

Amongst other revenue generating initiatives, he said the president had directed that work should be immediately concluded on the deployment of the National Trade Window and other technologies to enhance customs collections efficiency from the current 64 per cent to up to 90 per cent over the next few years.

He indicated that in spite of the challenges that militated against the realisation of targeted revenues, the revenues generated in 2018 showed a significant improvement over 2017.

He said that he expected further improvement this year with the sustained implementation of the prescriptions of the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP).

The minister explained that the ERGP guided allocations in the Federal Government budget because it set out the key execution priorities of government for the growth and development of the economy.

Government, he added, was encouraged by the results so far attained after implementing the plan for about two years.

He said the economy had exited from recession and was on the path of growth, even though it took time for the impact to be fully felt by a significant number of people.

“It takes time, and will take some more efforts but we will keep working on it so as to fully realise the objectives of the ERGP. The implementation of the ERGP will create growth and jobs and reduce poverty,” Udoma assured.

Explaining the basis for some of the assumptions in the MTEF/FSP, the minister said the oil price benchmark was arrived at after extensive consultations with industry experts and consultants; and he indicated that he believed that the $60 per barrel projected for 2019 was achieveable.

He noted that oil was currently trading at about US$67.

On the limitation imposed by OPEC production quota, the minister also explained that there was no quota set for condensates by OPEC.

Nigeria, he said, could use condensate production to augment its production.

“Mr. President has directed the NNPC to take all possible measures to achieve the targeted oil production of 2.3 million barrels per day,” he added.

Udoma told the committee that the 2019 Budget proposals, which were based on the MTEF/FSP sought to continue the reflationary and consolidation policies of the 2017 and 2018 Budgets respectively, which helped restore the economy back on to the path of growth.

He explained that in allocating funds in the 2019 budget proposals, priority was given to critical infrastructure projects.

Others who made presentations before the Committee included the Minister of Finance, Mrs Zainab Ahmed; Chairman, FIRS, Mr Tunde Fowler; Accountant General of the Federation, Ibrahim Idris; Director General of the Debt Management Office, Patience Oniha; Comptroller General of Customs, Col. Ali; representatives of the Central Bank Governor and the Group Managing Director of NNPC.

The Director General of the Budget Office of the Federation, Mr. Ben Akabueze, was also at the meeting.

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Udoma who was speaking at the Deloitte Dialogue on Nigeria”s Economic Outlook for 2019, in Lagos on Thursday, said the proposed 2019 Budget was intended to further reposition the economy on the path of faster, inclusive, diversified and sustainable growth, and to continue to lift significant numbers of our citizens out of poverty.

The minister explained that with the improved coordination of fiscal and monetary policies, exchange rate stability, improved oil export earnings and capital inflows, as well as the continuation of the current prudent management of foreign exchange reserves by the CBN, inflation is expected to trend downwards to single digit of 9.98% in 2019 from 11.44% as at December 2018.

“Government is committed to growing the economy, and accordingly the 2019 Budget Proposal has been designed to continue to provide the stimulus and support required to spur growth in the economy,” he stated.

While indicating that the 2019 Budget was another step in the country’s journey to ensure diversified, inclusive, sustainable growth, creating jobs for the teeming population and prosperity of Nigerians, Udoma said government expected more diversified and inclusive growth in 2019 and over the medium term.

He said though the current real GDP growth performance was still a little sluggish it indicated a positive momentum, especially with regard to the growth of the non-oil sector.

“Our aim is to take all measures necessary to ensure that we increase the growth rate whilst maintaining fiscal sustainability,” he said.

Explaining the basis for the oil price projections in the budget, the minister said oil prices depended on the interaction between supply and demand for oil in international markets.

He said it was however the supply-side factor that had been mainly responsible for the price increase in 2018 and the recent decline.

According to him, although crude oil price soared in the second half of 2018, rising as high as US$81.20/b on September 24, 2018 – a four year high – it declined towards the end of 2018, falling below the 2019 budget benchmark of US$60/b.

He said whilst the government was obviously concerned about the recent trend, most analysts believed the price would recover in the course of 2019, and so the Federal Government had not seen any need to adjust its benchmark price of US$60.

However, he assured the gathering that if, at any time prior to the passage into law of the 2019 Budget by the National Assembly, there was strong reason to believe that the benchmark price of US$60 was unlikely to be realised then the Executive would engage with the National Assembly to agree a lower benchmark price.

On oil production levels, the minister said that President Buhari had directed the NNPC to work hard to achieve the 2.3mbpd budget target.

“The ERGP Oil production target for 2019 is 2.4mbpd, NNPC production submission is 2.45mbpd. We have revised the ERGP target and NNPC forecast downwards to 2.3mbpd for the 2019 Budget proposal,” he pointed out.

He explained that the 2019 proposed budget size was smaller than the 2018 Budget because of the need to contain the size of the deficit so as to keep the nation’s borrowing within prudent limits.

The minister pointed out that the proposed deficit of N1.859 trillion in 2019 is about 1.33% of GDP, which was within the 3% threshold stipulated in the Fiscal Responsibility Act (FRA) 2007.

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