Nigeria Will Soon Run Into Trouble If Economy Is Not Diversified-Okonjo-Iweala

The Director-General of the World Trade Organization, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala on Wednesday said that the Nigerian economy might be heading for trouble if the structure of the economy is not diversified in line with the dynamic changes of the global economy.

She said this during her visit to the Executive Director of the Nigerian Export Promotion Council, Olusegun Awolowo.

The WTO DG said the current transition from fossil fuel to renewable energy has made it more compelling for the country to start working on how to diversify its revenue sources.

She explained that while the structure of the Nigerian economy has been diversified, it’s sources of revenue had yet to be effectively diversified as over 60 per cent of revenue earnings are from oil.

She said with countries like Norway banning the use of fossil cars and transiting to electric vehicles by 2025, the market for crude oil would begin to shrink.

She said, “For Nigeria to make the transition from oil and gas to other sector is one of the thing that is important because of climate change and fossil fuel are wearing out.

“Many countries like Norway and others have said they won’t allow cars with petrol from 2025 and this has made us ask the question what will Nigeria do.

“Even if our economy is diversified, our revenue is not as about 60 per cent of revenue comes from oil. If we don’t start now on how to diversify our revenue sources, we will be in trouble. This is why I am meeting those that can create jobs.”

She said the WTO under her leadership would continue to support Nigeria particularly women entrepreneurs in the area of boosting exports and capacity building.

She added, “Supporting trade for MSMEs especially for woman entrepreneurs is meaningful. Trade and globalisation had made people very wealthy but it has left some people behind. The income of some people in the middle East has stagnated. The way that WTO can help is by trying to make rules.

“We will help you connect to international market, empowering women is good and smart economics. If woman have equal opportunity and access to the global economy as men do, economic growth can increase by $28trn.

“We will do our best at WTO and ITC to partner with you more to make sure that the quality of what is being made are up to standards and we are not meeting obstacle.

“We will help you connect better to regional markets. The AfCFTA is a good opportunity that we can really think about. We are not yet there but we will help you from WTO to penetrate that market and take advantage.

Earlier, Awolowo expressed optimism that with her vast experience, the WTO DG would assist Nigeria realise much of its untapped potential through deepening cooperation with other countries in international trade.

He said, “We have come to a defining moment for international trade, at NEPC, we developed the the Zero oil plan which is promoting an export led development agenda for Nigeria.

“We are actively engaged in strategic collaborations and formidable partnerships to achieve our goals.”

Awolowo said a clear area of focus for the Council has been a drive to gain significant participation of women in non-oil exports, adding that this would help the country achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal number 5 on gender equality which cuts across all sectors.

He said the importance of women’s inclusion in trade cannot be overemphasized.