El-Rufai, Soludo, others to Speak on Future of Economic growth

The governors of Kaduna and Anambra states, Nasir El-Rufai and Prof. Charles Soludo, will be among the panellists who will discuss new pathways for creating a robust and resilient economic future for Nigeria at an event scheduled to hold on Tuesday.

This was disclosed in a statement issued on Sunday by one of the organisers, Nigerian think tank, Agora Policy.

The governors will serve as panellists at a policy conversation in Abuja, which is jointly organised by the Africa Programme of the US-based Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and the Abuja-based Agora Policy with the theme, ‘How Nigeria can build a post-oil economic future’.

Other panellists at the event include former Chief Executive Officer of Access Bank, Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede; World Bank’s Country Director for Nigeria, Dr Shubham Chaudhuri; and Director of the Carnegie Africa Programme, Dr Zainab Usman.

The event will also feature the presentation and an exposition on the policy implications of Dr Usman’s book titled, ‘Economic diversification in Nigeria: The politics of building a post-oil economy’.

The book was voted as one of the ‘Best Books of 2022’ on economics by the Financial Times.

Building on Usman’s PhD thesis at the University of Oxford, the book used data and theoretical frameworks to challenge received wisdom about Nigeria’s economic trajectory.

The event came up against the backdrop of the global conversation about climate change and the transition away from fossil fuel, Nigeria’s historic economic underperformance and current economic challenges, and the transition to a new administration later in the month.

Some of the questions for deliberation at the event would include, ‘Why is Nigeria’s economy performing below its vast potential?’ ‘How do power, politics, and decision-making affect this economic development challenge?’ ‘What can be done to position the Nigerian economy on a path of sustained growth, transformation and diversification?’

Beyond their positions as state governors, Soludo and El-Rufai would share insights from their diverse backgrounds in the economic and governance policy arena in Nigeria; Soludo, as a professor of economics, former chief economic adviser to the President, and former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria; and El-Rufai as former director-general of the Bureau of Public Enterprises, a member of the Economic Management Team and a member of the Policy Implementation Committee under General Abdulsalami Abubakar