Posted by By EMEKA OKOROANYANWU and DENNIS MERNYI, Abuja on
President Umaru Musa Yar' Adua Wednesday declared the 13th Nigerian Economic Summit taking place in Abuja open with a call on the private sector to assist in sourcing funds for the development of infrastructure in the country.
President Umaru Musa Yar' Adua Wednesday declared the 13th Nigerian Economic Summit taking place in Abuja open with a call on the private sector to assist in sourcing funds for the development of infrastructure in the country.
Yar' Adua said Nigeria needs between $6 and $9 billion every year to develop its infrastructure and bring it to world standard. He regretted that government alone will not provide all the resources, saying that the private sector has a role to play.
Said he: "The business community is challenged to source for the funding of infrastructure in the country".
He said the volume of private sector input in infrastructural development is still small, insisting that there is need for the private sector to rescue the situation.
The president also invited the private sector to lead the way in ensuring that Nigeria becomes one of the top economies of the world by the year 2020.
He said that for the country to achieve the dream of being among the top 20 economies of the world, it must deepen its democratic environment, ensure that there is adequate security for life and property; that justice reform system produce a society where laws and order remain supreme, and grow the infrastructural base, especially in such critical sectors as power, energy and transport.
The president regretted that infrastructural challenge has been the greatest impediment to the country's quest for economic growth, noting that inadequate infrastructure has resulted in higher cost of doing business in the country.
He promised that his administration would ensure that microeconomic stability is maintained while a conducive business environment is created to engender economic growth, and at the same time promoting competitiveness in the economy.
According to the president, "government will intervene to produce a regulatory framework that would make Nigeria a conducive place for investment."
He said that the outcome of the summit is expected to enrich government's policy formulation, adding that his administration was committed to making Nigeria one of the top 20 leading economies of the world.
The 13th Nigerian Economic Summit, which is taking place in Abuja, has as its theme, "Nigeria: Positioning for the top 20 league." The conference will end on Friday, September 7.