Wants focus on infrastructure, human capital development

THE World Bank has advised the Federal Government to review its import policy, as the current regime could deprive the country of long-term trade facilitation with other countries.

According to the bank, wholesome import restriction would not be adequate enough in protecting local manufacturing companies. Rather, government should invest more on boosting power supply and other infrastructural facilities, to allow the industries attain global competitiveness.
Besides, the Bretton Wood Institution canvassed development of skilled manpower, to address current human capital crisis in the economy.

Stating this at the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI)’s stakeholders’ meeting on “Contemporary Issues in Trade and Tariff Policies in Lagos yesterday, the Country Director, World Bank in Nigeria, Onno Ruhl, said the ban on some selected items could take a toll on the nation’s economy in the long run, as other countries could start having apathy on Nigerian goods internationally.

He however stressed that despite the ban on the items, the goods still found their ways into the Nigerian market because of high rate of smuggling and corruption in the polity.

According to him, Nigeria’s problems are enormous and banning some imported items into the country may not augur well for the economy, as it would only increase tariff for government, while unemployment rate will continue to increase in the country.

He added that Nigeria has the potential to be a developed country in the next 10 years, as part of the government’s vision 20:2020, but there was need for the country to take a cue from emerging countries like Brazil and India, stressing that private sector participation played a key role towards attaining industrialisation.

Ruhl hinted that the World Bank has not been asked by government to assist it on trade and tariff policies, adding that the bank was only carrying out its appraisal on the nation’s economy, based on its findings of the Nigerian market.

“India did not follow the trade policies as recommended 20 years ago. But it had a very determined policy of actually investing in the infrastructure and skills needed to make the trade very competitive. So, the government protected the local industries and also did something to make the industries ready for competition.

“But they invested heavily in making those industries competitive. That is not the same thing we see in Nigeria. What we see here like in Abuja now, where the argument goes like this, that if we ban importation of textile materials, the local industries will emerge, but it actually led to more shutdowns of textile companies during the ban.

“Nobody in Abuja even got the argument. They are just saying what is logical that if you ban import, the industry will thrive. It is not true, because nothing is happening in Nigeria as a step to solve the problems that could make the industry to be competitive.

“An intervention fund sound beautiful, but what you need are roads and power. What you need are skilled-workers that will make your industry look competitive and that is what India invested in and that is an excellent example.”
LCCI’s President, Otunba Femi Deru, said if there was any area of concern about policy instability and policy risk, it was in the area of trade policy, adding that the policy summersault was enormous for operators.

In particular, Deru said that there are serious issues in import prohibition- frequent listing and de-listing; inconsistent tariff policies; and challenges with economic integration in the West Africa sub-region, especially with respect to tariff and non-tariff barriers.

“I must admit that in the private sector, there are conflicting positions on many of the trade policy issues. But generally, there is a need for a very clear understanding of the direction in which the country wants to go,” Deru said.     

-Guardian

Posted by admin on Feb 24 2011. Filed under Headlines. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry