Customs, biggest headache of Nigerian business community – LCCI 

The LCCI boss described trade policy as a key determinant of the nation’s imports and exports adding that inappropriate trade policies could aggravate the cost of production of economic players which according to him, happens when critical inputs were restricted from imports and local substitutes were grossly inadequate.

“A thorough sensitivity analysis of trade policy impact on the economy is essential before major trade policy moves are made. The same logic should apply to the forex exclusion policy of the CBN.  Trade policies should be guided by sectoral competitive and comparative advantage to ensure sustainability. Institutional capacity to enforce the policies should also be considered in trade policy formulation.

“The Nigeria Customs service needs to demonstrate better sensitivity to the plight of investors.

“Policies should be focused on incentivizing resource-based industries which typically has competitive advantage and good impact on the economy because of the high multiplier effect.  The relativity of tariffs between the Nigeria and neighboring countries should also be considered in the formulation of trade policy”, he stated.

Continuing, he said, “Procurement policy is another very important dimension of policy that has high implications for economic diversification. The procurement policy should be structured to favour sectors that have the potential to be diversification champions as well as leading backward integration firms. Due priority should be given to patronage of made in Nigeria products as an important component of procurement policy, and should be properly implemented.

“Resource based industries should naturally get preferences in the deployment of incentives.  They have to promote inclusiveness, poverty reduction, and job creation. This should be a major focus of investment policy.

“Fixing the country’s infrastructure is at the very heart of building a competitive economy and a fundamental requirement for economic diversification and sustainable job creation.  Transformation in the agricultural and manufacturing sectors depends to a large extent on the quality of infrastructure”.

He also submitted that the quality of infrastructure, the quality of policies and the quality of institutions were the three critical factors crucial to drive economic diversification in the Nigerian economy pointing out that “It is crucial to get these key parameters right.  It is equally critical to ensure proper alignment among these key variables to ensure sustainable economic diversification”