NECA URGES GOVERNMENT RADICAL ECONOMIC REFORMS

The Nigeria Employers' Consultative Association (NECA) in view of the fact that Nigeria recently signed the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) has urged Government to urgently  reassess its strategies and tailor its policies and reforms toward a radical industrialization of  the country.

Speaking yesterday in Lagos, at NECA's 62nd Annual General Meeting (AGM), the Director General of NECA, Mr. Timothy Olawale stated  “there is  no better time for the Government, to focus on a radical industrialization of our country as a  means of making it the hub of economic activities in the West African sub-region and also  ensure Nigeria benefits maximally from the AfCFTA. We have consistently taken the lazy path of tax increases that stifles and further burden businesses rather than the ingenious way of promoting and stimulating production”.


Olawale averred that “Government should demonstrate a bold attempt to  industrialize the country and take it out of the woods by embracing a major policy shift from  focus on taxation to production. What our economy requires now are radical far reaching  policies like the abolition of VAT on real estate sales, financial services and domestic airline ticket sales, abolishing capital gain tax on sales of shares and import duty on spare parts, reduction of VAT on small traders to 3%, abolition of import duty on machinery and raw materials amongst many others. All these will directly stimulate production and create wealth for the nation and its citizenry.”

He further stated  “production and productivity induced policies focused on the rapid development of our industrial base is the only sustainable option for our national development. We commend Government for the efforts made in the last four years to stimulate the economy and support the real sector, however, the contradictions in the regulatory environment has consistently negated these efforts."


Concluding his remarks, Olawale noted that,“if Government can muster political will, to take expected radical bold steps, Nigeria in no time might become the industrial hub of the African Continent”.