UP GEJ! : Economy

ECONOMY

•Statistics show that Nigeria has become the favoured destination of investors coming into Africa recording

the highest investment of $8.4billion (around 930 billion). Government’s target is to attract $20 billion worth of foreign investments in three years.
•The Jonathan administration’s handling of the economy led to JP Morgan Chase the reputable American investment and Securities Company to list Nigeria on its Government Bond Index-Emerging Markets (GBI-EM). It is the second African company after South Africa to be listed. This inclusion of Nigerian bonds could mean an `inflow of at least $1.5 million of inflow into Nigeria’s bond market’. The listing will also improve the profile of Nigeria’s debt market.
•The Jonathan administration has in less than two years put Nigeria on the path of economic recovery. In 2011 for instance the Nigerian economy following International Monetary Fund (IMF) forecast, Nigeria was expected to witness 5.9 percent GDP growth but figures from the Federal Bureau of Statistics in Nigeria showed that by third quarter of 2011 the GDP growth stood at 7.3 percent.

The Administration detailed its 2013 achievements in an extensive report when the President gave the mid-term report on the Transformation Agenda. We have made several priority investments in physical and human infrastructure across the country; and these investments have resulted in many achievements across the real sectors of the economy. Details can be found in the Mid-Term Review Report, and also on the website of the National Planning Commission. Below are some of the key sectoral achievements in 2013.

Job creation: Our strong economic performance across various sectors is creating jobs, and improving the livelihoods of our citizens. According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) a total of 1.6 million jobs were created in the past year. The NBS jobs data are based on Quarterly Job Creation surveys which are conducted in partnership with the Office of the Chief Economic Adviser to the President, the National Planning Commission, and the Federal Ministry of Labour & Productivity. The survey is conducted for all 36 States and the FCT and covers all sectors of the economy.

Of the 1.6 million total jobs created, we can highlight a few examples which demonstrate the impacts made across the country.

o In agriculture, the provision of inputs in 10 Northern States enabled dry season farming; and profitably engaged over 250,000 farmers and youths even during the dry season.

o In manufacturing, many new jobs were also created across the country. For example, the Onne Oil and Gas Free Zone created an estimated 30,000 direct and indirect jobs.

o The Government’s special intervention programs also created job opportunities. The YouWiN program has supported young Nigerian entrepreneurs and created over 18,000 jobs, while the SURE-P Community Services Scheme has also created 120,000 job opportunities across the country.

However, given the large number of new entrants into the labor force each year, and the pre-existing stock of people already looking for jobs, we will need to maintain our unrelenting focus on job creation for Nigerians. Job creation will therefore remain the central focus of this Administration.