By Bassey Udo
Nigeria Agenda 2050 can transform Nigeria into an upper-middle income economy, the National Economic Council (NEC) has said.
The Council, which gave its full endorsement to the agenda at an emergency session and its first meeting in 2023, said the document captures a lot of expectations for Nigeria in the future.
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo who presided over the meeting said the government has plans to create about 165 million jobs over the agenda implementation period.
Agenda 2050 is expected to help Nigeria attain her desire to successfully join the group of upper middle-income countries and subsequently to high-income group.
The VP said the implementation of the plan requires significant improvement in the country’s per capita gross domestic product (GDP), which would be powered by rapid and sustained economic growth.
Nigeria’s long-term ambition is to improve its per capita GDP from about $2,084.05 in 2020 to $6,223.23 in 2030 and $33,328.02 in 2050, with rapid and sustained economic growth, job creation and poverty reduction.
The Nigeria Agenda 2050 projects annual average real GDP growth of 7.0 percent.
The real growth rate of the GDP of the first medium-term National Development Plan (NDP) 2021-2025 on average will be 4.65 percent and an increase to 8.01 percent in the second NDP; subsequently to increase to 8.43 percent in the third.
Consequently, the number of full time jobs to be created will be roughly 165 million during the Agenda period to spur poverty reduction.
The number of people under the poverty line is expected to decline from roughly 83 million in 2020 to about 47.8 million in 2025 and to 2.1 million by 2050, thus taking a significant segment of the population out of poverty bracket.
The VP said Agenda 2050 was presented by the Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning to State Governors and other members of NEC, including federal ministers.
He said proper implementation was key to realising the targets set under the agenda designed to take the country through to Upper Middle-Income Country and subsequently to the status of High-Income countries.
After the presentation and discussion by Council members, Osinbajo observed that the plan can meet a lot of the expectations for Nigeria in the future, expressing hope that it would be effectively implemented.
The Minister of State for Budget and National Planning, Clem Agba said the Federal Government has taken unprecedented steps in ensuring the operationalization of the plan, especially with the inauguration of the Steering Committee of the National Development Plan by the VP.
At the inauguration of the Committee on September 9, 2020, President Muhammadu Buhari said it was mandated to commence the preparation of the Medium-Term National Development Plan (MTNDP) 2021– 2025 and Nigeria Agenda 2050.
Highlights of the Nigeria Agenda 2050 as presented to NEC include the formulation of various economic policies against the backdrop of several subsisting development challenges in the country.
These challenges include low, fragile, and non-inclusive economic growth; high population growth rate, pervasive insecurity, limited diversification, macroeconomic and social instability, low productivity and high import dependence.
The Nigeria Agenda 2050 is a perspective plan designed to transform the country into an “Upper-Middle Income Country”, with a significant improvement in per capita income.
The plan aims to fully engage all resources, reduce poverty, achieve social and economic stability.
Also, the plan targets developing a mechanism for achieving a sustainable environment consistent with global concerns about climate change and the environment.
Osinbajo said the plan presents the road map for accelerated, sustained and broad-based growth and provides broad frameworks for reducing unemployment, poverty, inequality, and human deprivation.
