By Adedapo Adesanya
The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr Wale Edun, has stated that the government of President Bola Tinubu was not responsible for the economic conditions that led to the shutdown of over 700 companies in 2023.
In a statement on Tuesday, Mr Edun explained that the closure of 767 companies in the country did not happen overnight, noting that the affected businesses were chased out of the system due to market instability, unfulfilled promises and breaches of contracts.
Recall that the Manufacturing Association of Nigeria (MAN) in a report in February indicated that about 767 manufacturing companies shut down operations in Nigeria in 2023. In addition, the association noted that another 335 companies were in distress financially in the same year, but Mr Edun said the government was already looking at the issues that led to the exit of the organisations.
“Our government inherited the assets and liabilities of the previous administration. The 800 companies or so did not make up their minds overnight. They stayed until they could stay no more.
“The conditions which sent them packing are no more. Those conditions were a foreign exchange market that was in no way fit for business where there was no liquidity.
“They were the general economic regime marked by instability, broken promises, lack of adherence to contract and so on.
“The new environment which investors face is one in which inflation is being attacked which will eventually lead to lower interest rates where investors can use the very vibrant domestic market to add their equities and invest,” he said.
Mr Edun also disclosed that the oil and gas sector received approximately $7 billion investment pledge due to the new incentive frameworks introduced by President Tinubu’s administration.
He said that the investment had been dormant for years, awaiting the appropriate economic conditions for inflow.
He also highlighted the CNG-fueled conversion programme as part of the administration’s policy framework to drive growth.
“CNG is a government policy not just for vehicles, but for generators. They have to be either CNG-fueled or solar-based or electric vehicles.
“That is the new incentive structure. And it continues also in the oil and gas sector. There has just been a new set of incentives that are encouraging new investments.
“We expect $7bn worth of investments that have been sitting on the sidelines to now come in.
“A stable, growing economy attracts investment that increases productivity, grows the economy further, creates jobs and reduces poverty. That is the trajectory that Nigeria is now on,” he noted.
The Minister also disclosed that Nigeria’s economy was returning to the path of positive growth with a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate of 2.98 per cent in the first quarter of 2024, adding that the 2.98 per cent growth rate was higher than last year’s GDP growth rate of 2.31 per cent.
Speaking on interventions of the government in the last year, he said, “Efforts have been made to improve food security, with N200bn allocated to programmes.
“Also, access to credit has also been improved, with N100bn allocated to consumer credit and grants of N50,000 being given to one million nano industries.”