The decision of the federal government to name operators in the real sector among its economic management team has been commended even as analysts say the team lacks representation of intellectuals that would have unbiased views on the economy of the country.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu had approved the establishment of the Presidential Economic Coordination Council (PECC) and the creation of the Economic Management Team Emergency Taskforce (EET), naming private sector drivers such as Aliko Dangote, Tony Elumelu, Abdulsamad Rabiu, Ms. Amina Maina Begun Ajayi-Kadir, Funke Okpeke, Doyin Salami, Patrick Okigbo, Kola Adesina, Segun Agbaje, Chidi Ajaere, Abdulkadir Aliu and Rasheed Sarumi among his team.
Commenting on the development, Chief Executive of the Center for Promotion of Private Enterprise (CPPE), Dr Muda Yusuf said it is a welcome move that will help to strengthen policy coordination, and bridge the gap between policy makers and operators.
Stating that the latest addition to the economic team will help ‘to bridge the gap between those who are investors in the economy and those who are policymakers,’ he said: “there will be better feedback from those who are operators in the economy to policymakers because we need that kind of dialogue that kind of partnership for the economy to be able to make progress
“It is good for communication between the private sector and the policymakers as well as for policy coordination. It is a move that should be commanded. We should be expecting a better outcome in terms of the quality of economic management.
“The whole essence of putting the team together is to improve economic management, and when the economic management improves, the performance of the economy improves. So, we should see more economic growth, we should see more jobs created, because we now have a lot of input from those who are members of that committee and because they are coming from diverse backgrounds, it will help to bring all the perspectives to guide the policy process. It will make the policy process inclusive, which is good for the economy.”
On his part, the president of the Nigerian Economic Society (NES), Prof Adeola Adenikinju, whilst noting that the economy is going through significant volatility said, there is a lot of overlap in the membership of the committees.
To him, “what the economic management team should do is to advise the president in terms of policies of the government, the impact of those policies, if those policies would have intended effect if they are done, what the government needs to do in order to ensure that the economic goals of the government are achieved.
“It must be like a standing board for government policy and it must also be one that is also able to assess the impact of those policies and advise as to whether the impacts are actually according to the intentions of the government. At a time like this where we have multiple challenges, issues of debt, energy crisis and food security issues, they are to see how government policies can drive reforms into those sectors of the economy. It is basically advisory and they are to advise the government in taking decisions and the impact.”
He, however, pointed out that the list lacks intellectual experts in the various sectors of the economy saying “If you look at the list, we have the private sector, govern officials and one component that is missing is the intellectuals who are experts in those sectors of the economy who should be able to provide evidence based advisory for the government are not represented in that committee.
“In many of the issues that the government is looking at, we have experts who are experts in the research that they have been doing and would be able to provide advice to the government. Once you have business people, they are also interested in what is going on and there are some decisions that if it does not favour them but is good for the overall economy, they will not support.”
To the managing director and chief executive of Arthur Steven Asset Management Limited, Olatunde Amolegbe, the economic team should be focused on increasing productivity and reducing unemployment.
“This of course cannot happen without urgent investments in critical infrastructure which needs to be identified, streamlined and implemented. Price stability would also improve purchasing power which should encourage savings and investments by the populace,” he said.
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