Mr. Tonye Cole, Co-Founder and Executive Director of the Sahara Group, yesterday, disclosed that Nigeria needs a clear blueprint to enable it diversify the nation’s economy.
In statement made available to Vanguard by Mr Bethel Obioma, the company’s Corporate Communications, manager, Cole, called for a realistic program towards achieving the desired diversification.
He stated: “The architecture for diversification in any sector must include a design for diversification and production in volumes that satisfy domestic and international buyer appetite.
“We still do not have a solid blueprint for this. What we have is a strong opportunity to repurpose and reposition Nigeria as a globally recognized economic powerhouse.
“If we are going to sustain the momentum, the political class should end its suspicion of the private sector players and instead seek opportunities for developing shared values and interests.
We need continuing collaboration between the government and business community to achieve sustained economic growth.” ‘’We are a nation of people blessed with creative energy and we are beginning to rank with the world’s most promising and talked about stars in the culinary, music, fashion, cinematic and literary worlds.
“Nigerian music and film are generally considered to be its greatest export to the rest of the continent and possibly the most inelastic in terms of consumer demand’’.
“A strong eco-system which enables the growth of these sectors is sorely needed. Nigeria needs to be focused on steering the economy towards much greater diversification.
It will be most unfortunate if we allow our progress to be impeded by the distractions that will inevitably come with the 2019 presidential election cycle.”
