By Naomi Uzor
THE Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry, LCCI, has said that Nigeria’s exit from recession presents a positive signal on Nigeria’s economic outlook and will impact positively on investors’ confidence in the economy.
Disclosing this at the LCCI press briefing on the economy, the President of LCCI, Chief Nike Akande, said the exit from recession was also an indication that some of the government policies have impacted positively on the economy.
“Beyond the GDP numbers and the exit from recession, what is paramount is the impact on the cost of doing business, productivity of the investors, competitiveness of firms and the sustainability of investments. And to the average Nigerian, what matters is the effect on welfare, especially food prices, cost of healthcare, transportation cost, power supply and the purchasing power. These are the considerations that would determine the extent of celebration ultimately. Remarkably, the President himself (Muhammadu Buhari) lent credence to this fact when he stated that until coming out of recession translates into meaningful improvement in peoples’ lives, our work cannot be said to be done,” she said.
The chamber commended the government for the giant strides taken in achieving the feat and for the intervention in the forex market to encourage and boost manufacturing and provide improved access to forex by SMEs.
“We believe that with more patronage, Nigerian manufacturers will be encouraged to improve the quality of their products and become competitive globally. It is certain that as the quality of our local production improve, local and international demand for them will increase. May I stress again, that for Nigeria to thrive and create jobs for the growing population of our youths, there is need for a paradigm shift from been a single product (Oil) economy to the pathway of diversification, especially into non-oil export” she said.
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