At a time when attention is majorly afocused on politics, as Nigeria is getting ready for the general election in the first quarter of 2019, the Organised Private Sector (OPS) will converge at the WorldStage Economic Summit on Tuesday, October 23 to discuss ‘New sources of economic strength to make the future happen’.
In a statement by World Stage Limited, the organisers, the summit will hold at the Event Centre, Nigerian Stock Exchange, 2-4 Customs Street, Lagos, by 9.30 AM will attract the participation of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), members of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Nigeria Computer Society (NCS), Association of Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ATCON), Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) among others.
According to Mr Segun Adeleye, President/CEO, World Stage Limited, the lead paper will be presented by Dr Tunde Adeoye, Associate Professor, Department of Economics, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Lagos, after which there will be a panel discussion of the theme of the summit.
He said the latest downturn in the economy due to political uncertainty is the more reason why Nigeria must laid an economic foundation based on its area of strength, which must be sustainable irrespective of the government that would be voted to power.
He said, “Credit for economic growth and boom in the developed countries world over the years had been linked to strategic identification and development of their economic strengths while government played the pivotal role of motivating the private sector with incentives to achieve the common goals in most cases.”
Notwithstanding that Nigeria has never at any particular period intentionally developed any area of economic strength, he said the dynamic nature of global interest could be a blessing if the country can identify and run with the right future to fast-track industrialization, just as the telecommunications sector broke all record of growth in the last decade.
In a global economy where tech companies like Microsoft, Google, Facebook are richer than all African countries put together, he said managers of the economy cannot continue to fake ignorance of the needful, that mineral resource will no longer be a major factor in future relevance and prosperity.