GDP rebasing’ll boost investment opportunities AfriHeritage, a think tank initiative based in Nigeria, has called on the Federal Government to put policies in place to sustain the recently released rebased Gross Domestic Product (GDP), because of its potential to create new economic opportunities, new jobs and better investment environment. The Executive Director of AfriHeritage, Dr. Ifediora Amobi who stated this in reaction to the recently rebased GDP said the rebasing is a move towards realising the nation’s Vision 20:2020. Amobi said, “The incorporation of sectors such as entertainment, music, telecoms and information technology into the GDP is a step in the right direction and global practice.” He noted that, “The rating shows that the service and industrial sectors in general which were not part of the calculation 14 years ago are all part of the economic growth.” He stressed that with the rebasing; Nigeria has become a safer haven for investment with strong base just as the country went through bank reconsolidation few years ago. He however allayed the fears of the people who have cited insecurity as threats to foreign direct investment, arguing that in economics, high risks culminate in high returns. He advised investors to take advantage of the consumption gap being created by the insecurity and respond to consumer demands. Also speaking, an Associate Fellow of AfriHeritage, Mr. Onyukwu . Onyukwu said Nigeria is not poor but the wealth has not been optimally redistributed. According to him, a country with large population would definitely have high number of poor people. He noted that the size of the economy as released creates a pool of foreign investment which economic agents have responded to. He said competition by foreign investors creates healthy competitive environment, calling on Nigerians to improve their business approach and enhance service efficiency. Both economists averred that the new GDP rebasing would create new opportunities, new job creation and more investment environment and called on the government to create enabling environment for business to thrive so that unemployment can reduce to certain extent. The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) recalculated the value of GDP based on production patterns in 2010, increasing the number of industries it measures to 46 from 33 and giving greater weight to sectors such as telecommunications and financial services. While the revised figure makes Nigeria the 26th-biggest economy in the world, the country lags in income per capita, ranking 121 with $2,688 for each citizen.
Posted on: Fri, 18 Apr 2014 08:06:18 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015