Nigeria Will Not Depend On Oil Again - President Buhari

President Muhammadu Buhari has, at the U.S.-
Africa business forum, said that his administration
would ensure that “Nigeria does not slip back into a
lazy and dangerous dependence on the price of
crude oil” again.
Buhari who expressed optimism that “Nigeria is on
the rise” said that his government has set an
enviably workable modalities to drive the economy
out of recession and reposition the country and
Africa as a destination point for every investor.
Below is the full speech on Bloomberg, titled
“Making ‘Africa Rising’ a Reality in Nigeria.”
Until a few years ago, Africa Rising was a dominant
theme in conversations about the global economy.
That enthusiasm has since cooled, so that in
newsrooms and think tanks and conference panels,
“Africa Rising!” has given way to a more
questioning “Africa Rising?”
While some of that pessimism may be justified, we
do not have the luxury of distracting ourselves with
lamentations about our current circumstances.
Instead of hoping for commodity prices to rise,
African countries should seize the opportunities
that these times present — not least here at today’s
U.S.-Africa Business Forum — to lay a foundation
for the kind of economic growth that transforms the
lives of our people.
One of our biggest challenges during the boom
years was that we failed to convert the benefits of
high commodity prices into more jobs and
significant improvements in standards of living.
Hence the great debate, during those years, about
how to ensure that the growth became “inclusive.”
Now that we are face to face with the vulnerabilities
somehow hidden during the years of plenty, we
should turn away from the unhelpful habits of the
past and chart a new course. Since I signed the
2016 budget into law in May, Nigeria’s Ministry of
Finance has released more than 400 billion naira for
infrastructure spending — more than the total
amount spent in 2015.
In the face of dwindling oil revenues, we are turning
to debt. We have begun raising a $1 billion
Eurobond, our first in three years. We are also
raising debt from the World Bank, the African
Development Bank, the Chinese Ex-Im Bank and
other development finance partners.
Unlike in the past, when borrowed funds were
frittered away on unproductive ventures, we will
ensure their investment in the revival of stalled
road, rail, power and port projects, and in
agricultural initiatives that will significantly boost
domestic production of food. For far too long we
have under-invested in infrastructure — the most
critical element for creating sustainable economic
growth. The net effect: an avoidably high cost of
doing business in Nigeria.
But even more important than what the government
is able to spend is the limitless investment
potential of the private sector. This is why one of
our main priorities is creating an environment in
which private-sector capital can thrive. We are in
particular using Public-Private Partnership models
to support game-changing private-sector projects
in power, refining, gas transportation and fertilizer
production.
We are also putting in place measures to ensure
that monies intended to revamp our infrastructure
do not end up in the pockets of corrupt officials and
their collaborators. Already we are investigating the
theft of several billion dollars in public funds by the
previous administration. We are not only bringing
these corrupt officials to justice, we are also setting
up systems to make it impossible for such a
grievous abuse of public trust to happen again.
And of course, we are as committed to playing by
the rule of law as we are to accounting for every
naira and recovering them for our treasury. These
were funds meant to build roads and railway lines
and hospitals and schools, and to equip our
military — which has for the last seven years been
fighting one of the deadliest terrorist groups in the
world.
In that regard, we are already seeing the positive
results of our anti-corruption efforts. Long starved
of both materiel and morale by the corruption in the
military’s upper echelons, our reinvigorated troops
have now put Boko Haram permanently on the back
foot. Some of the more than 2 million persons
displaced by Boko Haram have started returning to
their homes. Just last week, the people of Nigeria’s
northeast celebrated their first incident-free Eid in
years.
Our troops have rescued thousands of men, women
and children trapped in areas held by Boko Haram.
To meet their urgent humanitarian needs, we are
working with the United Nations and other partners
to provide food, medical help and shelter. We will
strive to ensure that no victim is left behind,
including the 219 Chibok girls who have, since their
abduction in April 2014, served as a global symbol
of the war against Boko Haram and a reminder of
the horrors that it has inflicted on innocent
Nigerians.
Even though the times are still dire, our economic
recovery plan is already showing positive results.
Investment’s share in gross domestic product is at
its highest since 2010. Inflation is slowing;
manufacturing confidence is rising. People are
seeing and seizing opportunities to make money
catering to the needs of Africa’s most populous
country.
Finally, our Social Investment Program — the most
ambitious in Nigeria’s history — will kick off this
month. In its first year it will provide cash transfers
to 1 million of our poorest people, hot meals to 5
million primary-school children, cheap loans to
more than 1 million artisans and traders, and job
opportunities in health care, agriculture and
software and hardware development for half a
million young people.
The journey ahead remains long and difficult. Our
double-digit inflation, currency turmoil and
downgraded ratings will not vanish overnight. We
also know that the current recession is partly driven
by the production outages in Nigeria’s Delta region,
and we are confident that growth will accelerate as
problems in that region are resolved.
But the real story here is not the challenges, which
are all too visible, but the opportunities. We have
learned the necessary lessons. We will ensure that
Nigeria does not slip back into a lazy and
dangerous dependence on the price of crude oil. We
will continue to insist on transparency and
accountability in the use of government funds. And
we will build an economy that prioritizes the ease of
doing business and investing, and that thrives on
the entrepreneurial energy and ingenuity of our
people.
To achieve these objectives, Nigeria needs robust
and reliable partnerships such as we have with the
United States. This is why I value the Commercial
and Investment Policy Dialogue that we have just
launched, and which we shall announce at today’s
U.S.-Africa Business Forum.
The months ahead will show not only that Nigeria
is on the rise, but that this “Rising” is real and
lasting — one that touches not just the statistical
databases, but the lives of the people who elected
us to deliver positive change.