Expert proffer increased oil export to accelerate economic growth
Lecturer of Economics at Pan-Atlantic University, Prof. Bright Eregha, has advised the Federal Government of Nigeria to increase its crude oil exports and harness the agricultural prospects in order to achieve economic growth beyond the projections of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Eregha gave this advice during an interview on Saturday. The IMF recently downgraded its forecast for Nigeria’s economic growth in 2024 to 3.0 percent, which is one percentage point lower than the previous forecast of 3.1 percent made in October 2023.
This negative forecast was announced in the IMF’s World Economic Outlook update in January 2024. The IMF also reduced the economic growth forecast for the Sub-Saharan Africa region in 2024 to 3.2 percent from the earlier forecast of 3.4 percent in October 2023.
According to Eregha, the exportation of crude oil and gas is the solution to surpassing the impending growth downgrade.
Additionally, Eregha suggested harnessing the agricultural prospects in the country, as the agricultural sector has the potential to contribute significantly to economic growth. It remains to be seen whether the Federal Government will heed Eregha’s advice and take the necessary steps to increase crude oil exports and tap into the agricultural prospects.
However, it is clear that these measures could potentially help Nigeria achieve economic growth beyond the IMF’s projections.
“The government should put in more effort to tackle oil theft in the Niger Delta region to scale up its production output.
“This will enable the country to meet its Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) quota and improve our fiscal revenues,” Eregha said.
He noted that the federal government should continue to evolve economic reforms that would improve the business environment for investment.
He said that the government needs to be more proactive in tackling insecurity challenges to encourage more Foreign Direct Investment FDI inflows.
Also speaking, an economist, Dr Mc-Antony Dike, said the federal government should invest more in the productive sector of the economy to galvanise growth.
Dike, a former President of the Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria (CITAN), said that injection of more funds into the agricultural sector would facilitate economic growth.
Such investment, he suggested, should be particularly in cash crop because it is high-yielding revenue in the international market.
“Our agricultural sector over the years has been the highest contributor to the country’s Gross Domestic Products (GDP) prior to the insecurity challenges,” Dike said.
He noted that the government should accord priority to gas exploitation as additional revenue earning to facilitate the growth of the economy.
“The regulator should begin to initiate collaborative joint ventures projects with International Oil Companies (OIC) for the exploitation of our gas and its attendant consequences on our fiscal revenues.
“Our gas reserves are one of the largest in the globe which is often sought after because it’s a cleaner form of energy,” Dike said.
