Atiku: Nigeria Has Enormous Potential For Economic Growth

Nigeria has always held enormous potential but that potential has
yet to be fulfilled despite it being Africa’s largest economy and a prime investment destination.

Former Vice President, Alhaji Abubakar Atiku said in a statement on Wednesday while sharing his thoughts on Ease of Doing Business and opportunity for economic growth.

According to the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP presidential front runner “our country is blessed with formidable natural, physical and human resources.”

He noted that “a vast domestic market and access to ECOWAS give it more than enough absorptive capacity to sustain a wide range of agricultural, industrial, and service activities. Yet business is tougher than it ought to be, and the
economy is stuttering.”

Speaking further, the former Vice President said “we have just exited a recession and Nigeria is ranked a poor 145 out of 189 in the World Bank’s ease of doing business rating. It is also ranked 94 out of 131 countries in the World Economic Forum’s Global
Competitiveness Scale. Opaque ownership and corporate governance structures frustrate due diligence and limit investment opportunities and irrespective of size, sector, and location, businesses face formidable challenges, including prohibitive capital, electricity, and logistics costs; weak and inconsistent laws and regulations; inefficient, incompetent, and predatory bureaucracies; unpredictable courts; clogged too often, corporate fortunes hinge on political patronage.”

All these, he said, have to stop because as “President, I promise to undertake the
following urgent measures: put an end to erratic policy shifts and regulatory changes; ensure the removal of the maze of unnecessary hurdles faced by anyone wanting to set up a business or access a market and eradicate the arbitrary effects and implications of a complex and sometimes deceitful web of taxes, levies, fees, and ad hoc contributions.”