The Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines, and Agriculture (NACCIMA) and the Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise (CPPE) have called on governments at all levels to work with relevant stakeholders to come up with strategies to improve and stabilize the economy.
The President of NACCIMA, Ide John Udeagbala, while speaking at the second quarter media briefing of the year on socio-economic issues in Lagos, lamented the deplorable state of the economy, stressing that virtually all sectors are seriously struggling to remain afloat.
Udeagbala noted that the economic instability in the country has become a worrisome situation, adding that nothing has changed since their first quarter press briefing, when they expressed grave concern and proffered solutions to the government.
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According to him, despite the unresponsiveness from the government, they would continue to address the authority until they attended to the multiple issues raised and created a conducive business environment for economic growth and inclusive development.
He called on the government to fix the country’s four refineries, which have remained comatose for almost two decades, to end petroleum product importation into the country, generate employment opportunities for the youth, and address the impact of fuel subsidy removal without adding additional debt burden to the nation.
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The Director of CPPE, Dr. Muda Yusuf, on his own decried some tax and import duty provisions in the 2023 fiscal policy, raising concern that the measures would significantly hurt the economy and worsen the de-industrialization of the country.
He advised the government to plan the now suspended census in such a way to provide an opportunity to widen the tax base of the population in the country instead of increasing tax rates and multiplying taxes on the already overtaxed few individuals and companies.
