Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, says Nigeria needs to diversify its economy into non-oil resources to accelerate economic development.
He stated this on Monday at the National Treasury Workshop with the theme, “Nigeria’s Revenue Challenges and the Way Forward: Exploring Non-Oil Alternatives,” held in Abuja.
The minister, who was represented by the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Finance, Lydia Shehu, said the workshop theme underscores the urgent need to rethink revenue generation strategies particularly in the light of the volatile nature of oil revenues which has long been the backbone of our economy but recently facing a downturn.
“We must, therefore, embrace a diversified economic approach that taps into the immense potential of non-oil sectors such as agriculture, solid minerals, manufacturing, tourism, digital economy and creative industries,” he said.
The minister said that the recent global shifts in energy policies, declining oil demand and fluctuating crude prices have jointly made it abundantly clear that we cannot afford to be overly dependent on oil revenues.
He added that Nigeria is blessed with abundant natural and human resources that remain largely untapped but there was still the question of how to harness the resources effectively to drive sustainable economic growth and development.
Edun stated that several non-oil sectors have demonstrated strong potentials for revenue generation, job creation, and economic transformation.
He pointed out that the time had come to aggressively explore non-oil sectors, just as he highlighted the critical revenue generating sectors to include, agriculture and agro-processing, solid minerals and mining, manufacturing and industrialisation, tourism and hospitality.
The Accountant-general of the Federation, Oluwatoyin Madein, said that the workshop is a yearly occasion where seasoned technocrats are invited to rub minds on salient issues confronting the nation’s economy
Madein said that it was with a view to proffering workable solutions in order to move the country forward.
