Covid-19: Okonjo-Iweala Warns Buhari Of Looming Recession

By Akinwale Kasali

Nigeria’s former Minister for Finance and African Union Special envoy for the fight against COVID-19, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has warned President Muhammdu Buhari of a second economic recession in his tenure.

In an exclusive interview on Channels TV (Business Morning Programme), the erstwhile Managing Director of the World Bank, warned of difficult times ahead on the heels of looming global recession, occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to Okonjo-Iweala, the Nigerian government must look at other means of income like agriculture and how it can diversify as a country

“What you need to do is to make the economy less dependent on oil, and that is why for the longer time, restructure the economy so that you can also have other sources to create job for the people, other sources where you can tap revenues. Part of the issue, let’s take Nigeria and some other African countries for instance, our economies have a lot of sectors that are diverse. We have agriculture, tourism, creative industries among others.

“I think learning how to tax some of these other sectors better, manufacturing, you have to look across board and say, ‘are we getting enough resources from these sectors?’ It is not just diversifying your economy but also diversifying your sources of revenue – meaning you have to tax better. This is what our country is going to look at now and start planning about how they are going to do better in the future.”