Meanwhile, the president of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), Dr. Frank Udemba, has said members of the association contributed greatly to the positive growth of the country’s GDP as announced by National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
Ufemba who stated this yesterday, while announcing the association’s 45th Annual General Meeting, noted that the Central Bank of Nigeria’s policy announced on February 21, 2017 accelerated MAN’s contributions in pulling Nigeria out of economic recession.
He said, “MAN believes that the Nigerian Economic Recovery and Growth Plan in conjunction with the private sector did the wonders in pulling the ailing economy out of recession. If the CBN policies are improved upon and sustained, we would do better in terms of growth in GDP.
“It may be true to say that economic growth rate of 0.55 percent is good. The question remains, is this growth real, and sustainable? The impact of positive improvement like this should ideally be felt by all classes of citizens in our country before one can boldly assert that growth experience is inclusive”.
The 45th AGM with the theme “Recovery and Growth of the Nigerian Economy,” would be having the former President of the United Republic of Tanzania, Mr. Benjamin William Mkapa as the special guest of honour.
The president however pointed out that the growth rate is a positive development and that the Nigerian economy has summarily exited recession in the second quarter of 2017, after five consecutive quarters of contraction.
Udemba said, “Our choice of the speaker was based on his experience in managing an economy that experienced serious economic challenges, like ours”.
Learning from Tanzania experience, Udemba pointed out that prior to Mkapa assumption of office in 1995, Tanzania economy was state-controlled, but by 2005 when he completed his tenure, Tanzania economy moved from command economy to a market economy.
“We believe that the valuable experience he will share with us will further enrich our macro-economic policy thrust.”