FG hosts AfDB boss on way out of economic recession

The Federal Government will play host to the President of the African Development Bank (AfDB), Dr. Akinwumi Adesina who is billed to be in the country for a three-day official visit to hold special session with the Nigeria economic managers on how to stimulate the nation’s economic recovery.

According to a statement on AfDB website, he will meet with President Muhammadu Buhari, the Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun and the Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr. Godwin Emiefele, to discuss on how to find ways of strengthening the economy and creating jobs for the teeming unemployed youths.

The statement said AfDB boss will be in Nigeria from Monday till Wednesday and that will be his  first official visit to Nigeria since he was appointed in 2015.

The AfDB president will meet government/policy-makers, the private sector and development partners to discuss the challenges facing Nigeria and highlight the AfDB’s commitment to further strengthen its partnership with Nigeria.

It would be recalled that Adesina, late last month advised African governments to boost tax revenue and steer clear of international borrowing as the region is faced with worst economic slump in more than a decade.

The AfDB chief in a report by the Financial Times said that the call became necessary because he expected the downturn in Africa, which has resulted in the decline in commodity prices as well as the slowdown in China, to last for, at least, the next three years.

He acknowledged that Africa was facing a debt challenge but stressed that “there has to be a lot more fiscal consolidation”.

Adesina said that expanding the tax base and improving the efficiency of tax administration would be the easiest ways to boost public finances.

According to him, the tax-to-GDP ratio in sub-Saharan Africa was about 14.5 per cent, compared with more than 30 per cent for most developed nations. “So, a lot more needs to be done to expand the tax base in Africa. Today it’s about $500 billion a year [for the region], which is much better than it used to be, but we need to expand that.”

The AfDB chief said not only was it risky for governments to borrow overseas because many African currencies were weakening and the US Federal Reserve appeared set to raise interest rates again this year, but also unnecessary.

“Instead of African countries running off to raise a lot of Eurobonds, I think there’s huge amounts of capital available more locally that we must tap for Africa’s development,” Adesina said, adding that borrowing should only be undertaken to finance projects that enhance economic growth.

He revealed that African pension funds had a pool of $334 billion, sovereign wealth funds $164 billion and there was some $56 billion of foreign direct investment looking for bankable projects.