“ We paid a lot of attention to agriculture, and it paid off.”—Olusegun Obasanjo laws or map put in place for future investors. With the help of the World Bank, we started what is needed to be able to take decisions on investment possibilities for solid minerals in Nigeria. So this is another business opportunity for those seeking to do business in Nigeria. Your Presidential functions and co-chair of the Forum Africa called you to work closely with Canadians. What do you think are the strengths of Canadian entrepreneurs, and what can they bring to Nigeria?
Nothing succeeds like success. There are great Canadian entrepreneurs of different shapes and sizes that are shining successes, and that is what we want to be able to achieve in Nigeria and emulate: entrepreneurs at different levels of returns, equity and partnership, but that are all successful. That is one thing we need to learn and that is what we want to encourage Canadian entrepreneurs to impart on Nigerians and indeed Africa. We want this momentum to be brought to Nigeria. According to the Nigeria Economic Report by the World Bank: “Annual growth rates that average over 7% in official data during the last decade places Nigeria among the fastest growing economies in the world.” A big part of this economic boom was under your Presidency. What was put in place by your administration to contribute to that major economic growth?
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| T he Ris ing Af rica
December 2013
This growth can be summarized in one word: reform. Reform that is all-embracing and all-encompassing. It is reform at the political level: democracy came in and we nurtured it, resulting in good governance. Then public service reform; we had to change the mentality and the orientation of public servants to know that helping the private sector is our duty and their responsibility. In the past, the private sector used to be seen as those wanting to take advantage of the economy, but that is not the case; in fact, they are the ones driving the economy and the public sector should provide a conducive environment and atmosphere for the private sector, and this fact became accepted and acknowledged. All doors are open to foreign investors. In the past, one of the things that used to happen is that when you came to Nigeria to register a business, it might take three months. But now we have created a onestop shop, a site put in place to facilitate business registry where all you want is available under one roof—these are some of the things we did. We encourage foreign investors, we treat and see them as kings; and of course I used to say that farmers are also kings, just like investors are kings. In one word, reform. We want to change the way we do business and adapt new methods. According to the same report, “the Nigerian non-oil economy is now 240% times higher than a decade ago.” What are the areas that have known the greatest growth? When you look back at your career as President, is there one particular achievement that warms your heart?
I would say agriculture. In those years between 2003 and 2007, we paid a lot of attention to agriculture, and it paid off. For instance, production of cocoa in 2003 increased from a total production of about 150,000 metric tons to over 400,000 metric tons by 2007. This goes to show that growth can be achieved and it has been done. We made similar progress in the production of grains and tubers like cassava. So when you talk about 7 percent growth, it is not restricted to oil and gas, but this growth also includes other areas of the economy such as telecommunication, ICT, manufacturing,
agriculture and even the film industry, called Nollywood, that is showing all over Africa and even outside Africa. Another thing we did which has helped was to encourage Nigerian investors, as this will entice foreign investors to Nigeria. If foreign investors come into the country, they will want to see how local Nigerian investors are faring. We now have Nigerian investors within the last 12 to 15 years in a way we never had them before—Nigerian companies who in their own right can be called multinationals in Africa, and some have ventured beyond Africa. Therefore foreign investors can come and say that if local investors are doing well, then I can also do well. How do you think Nigeria can achieve the 20:2020 vision [to become one of the top 20 economies in the world by the year 2020]?
The year 2020 objective was set by me, but one of the main setbacks is lack of consistency and continuity. I believe that Nigeria slipped off in 2007 from being able to achieve 20:2020. But it is possible that if we cannot meet 20:2020 as I had implemented, we should not exceed it by more than two or three years. What we need to do is obvious and possible. Whether we focus on these things continuously and consistently is the issue: energy, infrastructure, water and transportation. These are issues that we must address to be able to achieve 20:2020 or 20:2022 or 20:2023. Another thing we must fight and deal with is the issue of corruption. I know that there is no country in the world that is free from that. In fact yesterday someone was telling me that Montreal has changed leadership so frequently in the recent past. But what is important is that something is being done about it, provided that corruption is not accepted as a way of life. We need to ensure that corruption does not become endemic by not neglecting those practicing corruption; we have to deal with all those that are corrupted to deter others. Do you have the impression that things are evolving as far as anti-corruption methods put in place in Nigeria?
I think that the infrastructure to deal with it is in place, but again, we need the political will to deal with corruption. RA