Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has sadi that the plan of the Muhammadu Buhari government to raise a $25 billion Infrastructural Fund from the global community and establish long term bankable projects is gaining a lot of acceptance from stakeholders.
“We have seen considerable, favorable interests from some sovereign wealth funds and other nations.”
Vice President Osinbajo spoke today when he received a delegation of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry that paid him a courtesy call at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
He said that the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority which manages the country’s sovereign wealth fund is leading the project, adding that the Infrastructural Fund would create opportunity for commercial partners to participate in the building of the nation’s infrastructures alongside the federal government.
“This would be done through the establishment of bankable projects that involves such commercial partners.”
He said that the China-Exim Bank has agreed to finance the railway projects linking Lagos to Kano and Lagos to Calabar even as he said: “we expect these will generate some economic activities and create jobs.”
The Vice President reiterated the federal government’s determination to raise revenue internally to fund the budget, including through an expansion of VAT coverage but not an increase of the VAT rate.
“At 20 percent coverage, the VAT coverage now, the federal government intends to do much better giving a boost to the country’s tax revenues.”
The delegation of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry was led by Chief Mrs. Nike Akande who declared the support of the Chamber for the federal government’s fight against corruption and acknowledged that in the current economic situation that the Buhari presidency is having to deal with “there are no easy choices.”
The Vice President told the delegation that federal government is focussed on finding solutions to the economic situation, including through a focus on building infrastructure and to also diversifying the economy, especially through agriculture. Besides, he said, government is also focussing on creating an enabling environment for business and investments in the country.
Mrs. Akande, a former federal minister for Industry called on the Central Bank of Nigeria to find a foreign exchange regime that would boost the confidence of investors and remove uncertainly.
This was even as Professor Osinbajo also received a delegation from the Association of Licensed Telecoms Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) during which time he acknowledged their importance and their contribution to the economy, especially since the 2001 privatization.
The Vice President noted that the telecom sector is one of the sectors in the economy that has created a significant impact.
He reiterated the federal government’s resolve to develop critical infrastructure in the country, including the power sector.
According to him, the 2016 budget has a lot of emphasis on power, infrastructure, “and we are hoping to make considerable progress, with fairly consistent spending on infrastructure over the years, we’ll fare better.”
Earlier the Chairman of the association, Mr. Gbenga Adebayo presented an industry report to the Vice President entitled: “The Socio-Economic Impact of Telecoms in Nigeria.” Adebayo also expressed the concern of telecom operators regarding ‘multiple taxes’ and some of their equipment destroyed by insurgents in the Northeast.
He said that the industry has recorded over 120 million subscribers since 2001. [myad]
