Federal Government claims economy’s growth, new plan underway

[TGD]

 ALTHOUGH the source of the report has not been disclosed, the Federal Government yesterday declared that Nigeria had moved 10 steps upward on the global development ladder.

The good news came from the Minister of National Planning, Dr. Shamsudeen Usman, who said Nigeria has moved 10 steps upward on the world's development chart within two years.

"Nigeria has moved on the ladder of most developed countries of the world, gaining 10 places from number 43 to 33 recently," he said.

At the public presentation of the First National Implementation Plan (2010-2013) in Kano yesterday, the minister said the global economic crisis was largely responsible for the decline in the rating of most of the countries previously ahead of Nigeria on the world ranking.

The minister also hinted that President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan has formally transmitted the long awaited Bill on Development Planning and Project Continuity to the National Assembly.

He said the states have agreed to forward the bill to their Houses of Assembly for ratification into law.

The bill is meant to facilitate the implementation of the National Vision 20: 20-20 and its effective institutionalisation in Nigeria.

Already, the Federal Executive Council (FEC) and the National Economic Council (NEC) have approved the bill.

He added that the major thrust of the bill was to make it mandatory for all tiers of government to produce and implement medium-term development plans on a consistent basis in Nigeria.

Also, the Director-General of the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC), Mansur Ahmed, has warned that Nigeria's Public and Private Partnership (PPP) transactions may fail if the financial model competencies of finance and accounting professionals in both sectors were not significantly raised.

At a three-day training on financial modelling and analysis organised by Urban Development Bank of Nigeria Plc yesterday in Abuja, Ahmed stressed the need for adequate management capacity building for the "sustainability of our ambitious infrastructure development programmes."

According to Usman, "it is clear that this is the first time in a very long time that the political leadership at the federal and sub-national levels is committed to effective implementation of a development planning agenda. It is also reassuring to note that we have the willing and hardworking population to make the objectives of the vision and the first National Implementation Plan become a reality.

"I trust that if we sustain the trend of doing things in the right manner and for the right reasons, we will be able to transform Nigeria through our national development efforts into a nation that is among the league of 20 largest economies in the world. We have the potential. All we need is to rekindle our will to succeed."

And as part of efforts towards the implementation of the First National Implementation Plan and the National Vision 20:20-20, the government has directed that the capital proposals of the Federal Ministries, Departments and Agencies for 2011 and subsequent years be aligned with the priorities of the economic blueprint.

Usman, who made this public, added that the government was committed to the on-going reforms in the budget process to deepen the linkage between the yearly budgets and the development plan.

"Other tiers of government have also been given the encouragement to align with this approach so that budgeting can engender sustainable development and, by extension, increase citizens' welfare.

"Let me reiterate that the current administration is committed to a sustainable improvement in the economic management of the country, which has impacted positively on the performance of the Nigerian economy. The modest improvement in the major macro-economic indicators in the last four years was made possible through effective implementation of government's economic agenda, as encapsulated in the various development strategies, most importantly, the implementation of the on-going reforms in the various sectors of the economy.

"Experience worldwide has shown that sustainable economic growth and development are not achieved on a platter of gold. Rather, they are achieved on a carefully thought out strategic planning basis. This is attested to by the experience of countries like China, India, Malaysia, and the Asian tigers. While countries like Malaysia and India had GDP per capita of $808 and $430 and poverty rates of 65 and 58 per cent respectively in 1975, by 1999, with consistent development planning practice, their Gross Domestic Product (GDP) capita increased to $14,800 and $2,429 respectively while their poverty rates also declined significantly to eight and 38 per cent respectively," he said.

But Ahmed (ICRC boss), said since the establishment of the commission two years ago, "our experience with virtually all the PPP is that their sustainability and capacity to deliver value for money are generally compromised due largely to the fact that they were structured on poorly constructed financial models or none at all."

He commended the training initiative of the Urban Development Bank, which, he described as a conscious effort to develop highly skilled and competent financial modellers that will safeguard the future of PPP programmes.

Ahmed declared that only well-constructed financial models would help promote a robust and highly competitive PPP and other project finance markets in Nigeria.

The director-general, however, cautioned that while financial modelling was an important tool for investment analysis and structuring of PPP and privately financed concerns, it must be recognised that models were mathematical constructs that seek to mimic the real world of human and market behaviours.

Earlier, the Managing Director of Urban Development Bank of Nigeria, Mr. Adekunle Oyinloye, said the bank was committed to its mandate of promoting infrastructural development in Nigeria.

Source: Govt claims economy's growth, new plan underway