World Bank warns Nigeria about oil revenue •Sanusi tips Okonjo-Iweala for W/Bank presidency

Posted by admin CBN (Central Bank of Nigeria), Headlines, Women Politics Thursday, April 5th, 2012

THE World Bank has again raised the alarm that Nigeria’s reliance on crude oil revenue is dangerous for the future of its mono-product economy.

The Country Director of the bank in Nigeria Ms Marie Francoise Marie-Nelly said in an interview with an online news medium, Economic Confidential.

Responding to the question on whether the nation could survive without oil revenue, Marie-Nelly noted that the takings from crude oil export account for about 70 per cent of consolidated government revenue, stressing that the nation needed to prioritise non-oil sector for sustainable development in the future.

She said oil resources are not finite and that the country should invest revenue from oil in the agriculture sector to guarantee future economic prosperity that would enable the nation to feed its future generation.

“So far, the government survives mainly with oil revenue, which accounts for over 90 per cent of exports and well over 70 per cent of consolidated government revenues. As oil resources are not indefinite, it is important for Nigeria to plan now what it wants to be after tomorrow.

“The issue is how Nigeria can use the available oil resources to invest and prepare itself for the non-oil economy period. We think the agricultural sector is very important for Nigeria. Today, Nigeria is importing 2.5 million tonnes of milled rice annually.

“With the projected population growth, in 20 years, Nigeria will need 35 million tonnes of milled rice. So will the country afford importing all this rice? This is why Nigeria needs to invest in agriculture, so that Nigerians can feed themselves in 20 years.

“Even if you continue to have oil, you may not have all the resources to import what would be needed to feed the population. You know the cost of importation of rice and wheat is very important. So I think the coming years are extremely important for Nigeria, you need to put in place not only the infrastructure, road, electricity, but you need to invest in agriculture,” she said.

On the danger youth unemployment posed to the social fabric of the nation, the country director said it was a potential bomb it must address by growing the small and medium scale enterprises, provision of uninterrupted electricity and other critical infrastructure.

Meanwhile, as the jostling for who succeeds the incumbent World Bank president becomes tense, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) governor, Mallam Lamido Sanusi, has said Nigeria‘s Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, is a candidate to beat.

Speaking at a send-off for the International Finance Corporation (IFC)’s vice-president, Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and Caribbean and Western Europe, Mr Thierry Tanoh, in Lagos, on Wednesday night, the CBN governor said if the selection was based on merit, Okonjo-Iweala had no rival.

He called on the international community to ensure merit was strictly adhered to in the selection of the right candidate for the position.

“Before I said it, The Economist has said it. The Financial Times has said it and I don’t think there is anybody that doubts that Ngozi is a candidate to beat there. We are talking about somebody who is competing, not because she is a Nigerian, black or a woman, but because of her curriculum vitae, her education, and her experience,” he said.

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