Nigeria: Press spotlights IMF forecast of 2.9% growth for Nigeria in 2023, others

APA – Lagos (Nigeria)
The forecast by the International Monetary Fund that Inflation will slow Nigeria’s economic growth to 2.9 per cent in 2023 is one of the trending stories in Nigerian newspapers on Wednesday.
The Punch reports that inflation will slow Nigeria’s economic growth to 2.9 per cent in 2023, the International Monetary Fund has predicted.
It also downgraded the country’s economic growth prospect by 0.3 percentage points to 2.9 per cent for 2023 following weaker oil and gas production.
The IMF disclosed this in its new World Economic Outlook (for October) themed, ‘Navigating Global Divergences,’ released on Tuesday. Earlier in July, the lender projected that Nigeria’s economy would grow by 3.2 per cent in 2023. Then, it predicted that growth in the country would be impacted by security issues in the oil sector.
Commenting on its new prediction for the country, the Washington-based lender said, “Growth in Nigeria is projected to decline from 3.3 percent in 2022 to 2.9 per cent in 2023 and 3.1 per cent in 2024, with negative effects of high inflation on consumption taking hold.
“The forecast for 2023 is revised downward by 0.3 percentage point, reflecting weaker oil and gas production than expected, partially as a result of maintenance work.”
According to the National Bureau of Statistics, Nigeria’s GDP grew by 2.51 per cent in the second quarter of 2023. In August, Inflation surged to 25.80 per cent, an 18 year high, according to figures from the NBS.
The newspaper says that the naira fell further on Tuesday as it exchanged for the dollar at the parallel market between 1,005/$ and 1,025/$.
Owners of small-scale enterprises, Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association, and manufacturers, who spoke to The PUNCH, expressed concern about the falling value of the naira, warning that it would lead to the shutting down of factories and attendant job losses.
The naira has maintained a downward trend since the Central Bank of Nigeria allowed a free float of the national currency against the dollar and other global currencies in June.
This decline has further led to manufacturers struggling to get raw materials, with more companies planning to sack more workers or shut down.
With the declining naira value, manufacturers are faced with cutting production, jobs, and raw material imports.
The Guardian reports that the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) has called on Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) to work closely with it to overcome trade barriers.
Secretary General of AfCFTA, Wamkele Mene, made this call in his message to the 2023 Regional Integration Issues Forum (RIIF) in Accra, Ghana.
Mene, who was represented by Chief of Staff of the AfCFTA Secretariat, Silver Ojakol, explained the importance of the AfCFTA to MSMEs, noting that the agreement is not for big corporations.
The event was jointly organised by the Centre for Regional Integration in Africa (CRIA) and the African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF) in collaboration with the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA), as well as the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat, with support from Afreximbank.
A statement from the organisers quoted Mene as saying: “The agreement was designed and framed for the women and youths who daily face challenges across the continent when crossing borders to trade in goods and services.
“If African countries came together and achieved just one percentage increase in trade amongst themselves, we would earn $70 billion, which will be higher than the $58 billion given by donors as development assistance.”
In his remarks, Rector, Ghana Institute of Management and Public Affairs (GIMPA), Professor Samuel Bonsu, said Africa has the youngest population, stressing that the need for intra-Africa trade to transform resources into better value could not have come at a better time.
The statement explained that the RIIF is a sensitization mechanism and an interface platform for stakeholders involved in regional integration and continental trade initiatives.
The newspaper says that with about 70 registered fertilizer-blending plants in the country, Nigeria has the capacity to produce eight million metric tonnes of fertilizer per year, industry experts have revealed.
Unfortunately, due to the high cost of the major farm inputs among other factors, about 500,000mt is demanded by the farmers. The Programme Lead for African Fertilizer Initiative with the International Fertilizer Development Center (IFDC) Sebastian Nduva, while speaking at the NPK Technical Working Group Validation Workshop, yesterday in Abuja, stated that Nigeria has the largest number of registered fertiliser blending plants in Africa and it’s close to being self-sufficient in NPK fertilizer production.
According to him, the validation of the statistics of fertilizer produced in the country was to give policy makers confidence as the data will be useful for the government ahead of the take-off of the second phase of the Presidential Fertilizer Initiative (PFI).
On the high cost of fertilizer, Nduva noted that with the importation of 40 per cent of raw materials used for fertilizer production, the local price of the farm input would be influenced by global forces, saying currency devaluation, conflicts in Eastern Europe affecting the sourcing market among other factors.
However, he said stakeholders are of the opinion that if the government can take advantage of local production as well as the efficient and transparent system in the procurement and distribution of fertilizer, it will help reduce the cost to the farmers.
The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Agribusiness and Productivity Enhancement, Dr. Kingsley Uzoma, commended IFDC for aligning with the government’s objective to enhance food security through the Africa Fertilizer Initiative, saying with the data provided on the dashboard, the Federal Government can offer valuable guidance to potential investors in the fertilizer industry.
Uzoma however, suggested the need for the programme to consider including fertilizer quality, saying the inclusion will provide a comprehensive overview of the industry, benefiting both investors and government initiatives.
GIK/APA