Nigeria has recently recorded a number of positives on the economic front, an indication that there is indeed steady growth in the economy.
According to the Buhari Media Organisation (BMO),
this is cause for Nigerians to celebrate as 2019 winds down.
In a statement signed by its Chairman Niyi Akinsiju and Secretary Cassidy Madueke, BMO said that this is largely as a result of the political will of the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration to toe a different path from its predecessors.
“We have seen how Nigeria has within a few days recorded some landmark strides on several fronts relating to the economy. One of them is the N5.2bn trading surplus recorded by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) for the month of August.
“It is gratifying that the figure is a 22% increase on the N4.26bn surplus posted in July and this, we believe, is a clear indication that the national oil company can indeed operate profitably.
“It also reflects the transparency that the Buhari administration is bringing into governance when one considers that an NNPC whose operations had in the past been opaque is now issuing regular updates on its finances and operational expenditures.
“We also acknowledge that the value of Nigeria’s total trade in Q3 of 2019 stands at N9,187.6bn, representing a 6.77% increase over the value recorded in Q2,2019 and a 1.33% increase on Q3, 2018. And although there was a slight decline in import figure, the increase in export-led to a positive trade balance of N1,389.3bn during the period under review,” the group added.
BMO also drew attention to an announcement by the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) of an increase in power transmission capacity to 10,000 megawatts by July 2020.
“We recognise that this is a consequence of the installation of 68 transformers nationwide between 2017 and October 2019 through the implementation of the Transmission Rehabilitation and Expansion Programme (TREP).
“There is no doubt that this will further improve electricity supply and also create a ripple effect in the formal and non-formal sectors in terms of job creation.
“It is a massive milestone in a country where previous administrations are on record to have spent billions of dollars over twenty years with little improvement in the country’s power generation and transmission capacity.”
The group also identified the launch of a digital register of beneficial owners of mining and extractive licences by the Nigerian Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (NEITI) as a great step to clean up the industry and prepare it for additional domestic and foreign investments.
