President Bola Tinubu is expected to lead other federal government officials to next week’s third edition of the Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association, NECA employers’ summit with the theme “Economic Renaissance: Harnessing Government Reforms and Private Sector Agility.”
Among other government officials expected at the summit taking place between June 25 and June 26 in Abuja, are Vice President Kashim Shettima, Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Mr. Wale Edun, Central Bank Governor, Mr. Olayemi Cardoso, Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Mrs Nkiruka Onyejeocha among others.
This came as the NECA insisted that for the government to attract more investments, it must create pathways for consensus building for the effective implementation of reforms.
Briefing ahead of the summit, the Director-General of NECA, Adewale-Smatt Oyerinde, who informed that the President has accepted to attend the summit, said to achieve this, the government must develop strategies for making the reform benefits accessible to all and must also identify inclusive growth pathways for equitable opportunities.
Mr Oyerinde said the summit is expected to re-establish the nexus between government reforms and private-sector collaboration for rapid national growth and sustainable development.
The NECA boss said it was also expected to explore alternative mechanisms for deepened Public-Private Partnerships in job creation, skills development, and enterprise sustainability.
“The summit provides for the government to share critical policy reforms. It is a veritable opportunity for government to share its perspective and the challenges it faces so that investors can listen to it, and build confidence and everybody would be behind the government to drive the reform.
“One of the things missing is building consensus around government reforms and the government can leverage on the summit to build the reform to do that on our platform,” he said.
Chairman, the Committee of Finance Experts, NECA, who is also the co-chair of the summit, Muyiwa Adebayo, said the summit would foster a higher level of participation of the private sector in reforms formulation, implementation and appraisal as a means to building national consensus and participation.
He added that it would equally generate and promote alternative policy frameworks for national development and reinforce the role of the private sector as the engine of national development.
Also, another co-chair of the summit and Chairperson, NECA Committee of Corporate Communications and Public Affairs Expert, Victoria Uwadoka, said the employers’ summit would focus on four thematic areas implementing economic policies without businesses’ resistance, job creation dynamics, and advocacy for policy clarity and strategic partnerships for holistic transformation.
“Having an economic renaissance means businesses are thriving, there is more productivity people are gainfully employed and they can afford necessities. This can only happen when there is collaboration between the government and the private sector.
“There is the need to look at the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) that are the bedrock of any economy and for the economy to grow, we must look at empowering the SMEs and create platforms to drive the funds needed for them to grow exponentially,” she said.
