FG Spent N200bn On Road Development Last Year – Kemi Adeosun

Mrs Kemi Adeosun, the Minister of Finance, said the Federal Government invested the sum of N200 billion on roads in 2016.

According to the minister, the amount is part of N1.2 trillion earmarked for capital projects to ensure ease of doing business.

Adeosun said this on Friday at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) and Bloomberg Chief Executive Officer roundtable held in Lagos.

She said that the N200 billion was against N90 million earmarked for road construction in 2015.

According to her, government will continue to prioritise infrastructure development to unlock growth potential.

The finance minister said that diversification of the economy would not be achieved without a good transportation system and power supply to improve ease of doing business.

She said that the country was vast, adding that to actualise its potential, infrastructure development was crucial for sustainable growth and development.

“For the past two years in Nigeria, the road had been rough in economic terms but the worst times are over and we have the opportunity to grow,’’ she said.

According to Adeosun, Nigeria cannot rely on oil to grow, as oil contributes 10 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product and 60 per cent of the government revenue.

“We must not rely on oil but must use the oil revenue to generate activities in other sectors of the economy.

“We cannot benchmark ourselves with Saudi Arabia because their oil production was far away from us.

“They have 30 million populations and generate 10 million barrels of oil every day and Nigeria with 190 million generates 2.2 million barrels of oil every day,” she said.

She added that the country must use the oil revenue to generate and stimulate activity in other areas of the economy.

“This is encapsulated in our recent release of the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP).’’

The finance minister said that the country needed three things to grow, partnership with the private sector in service delivery, infrastructure development and effective revenue generation to ensure sustainable growth of the economy.