PeakNews Online
Abuja, July 4, 2024 (NAN) President Bola Tinubu inaugurated the Presidential Economic Coordination Council (PECC) on Thursday, with a mandate to strengthen the nation’s economy.
During the event at the Council Chambers in Abuja, Tinubu also launched the Economic Stabilisation Programme, focusing on food security, improved power supply, enhanced social welfare and healthcare, increased energy production, and overall economic transformation.
The 31-member Council, chaired by President Tinubu, aims to address Nigeria’s economic challenges through innovative solutions and public-private partnerships.
“We face the challenge of energy security in Nigeria. We need to improve our oil and gas sector and increase electricity generation and distribution across the country. Our goal is to generate more than the current 4.5GW of electricity and increase oil production to 2 million barrels per day within the next few months,” stated Tinubu.
The President announced concurrent measures with the National Construction and Household Support Programme to stabilize the economy, enhance job creation, and foster economic security. The Economic Stabilisation Programme includes the following key initiatives:
Energy Security:
Increase on-grid electricity from 4.5 gigawatts to 6 gigawatts within six months.
Boost oil production to 2 million barrels per day within 12 months.
Remove barriers to entry for investments in the energy sector to enhance competitiveness.
Agriculture and Food Security:
Increase staple crop production by small-holder farmers from 127 million metric tonnes in 2023 to 135 million metric tonnes in 2024.
Partner with larger-scale commercial farmers and support qualified farmers with satellite imagery for land use planning, crop rotation, and monitoring.
Health and Social Welfare:
Provide essential medicines at lower costs for 80-90 million Nigerians.
Expand healthcare insurance coverage for 1 million vulnerable people via a Vulnerable Group Fund.
Redeploy 20,000 healthcare workers to serve 10-12 million patients in urgent need areas.
Power up 4,800 primary healthcare centres (PHCs) and hospitals using renewable energy sources.
Economic Stabilisation:
Support new and existing youth-owned enterprises across all 36 states, creating 7,400 MSMEs within 6-12 months.
Implement a N650 billion facility to provide lower-cost short-term facilities to youth-owned businesses, manufacturers, and MSMEs across various industries.
Establish a Manufacturing Stabilisation Fund to rejuvenate 250 companies and provide lower-cost long-term facilities to manufacturers.
Launch the Grow Nigeria Development Fund, offering single-digit interest rate loans to grow MSMEs in partnership with sub-national governments.
Expand the Bank of Industry’s Rural Development Programme to develop 300 new MSMEs per state, resulting in 11,100 new rural-based MSMEs across the Federation.
Introduce a Mortgage Finance Acceleration Facility to support the construction of 25,000 additional housing units.
“These measures aim to create 4.7 million direct and indirect jobs over a six to twelve-month period,” Tinubu said.
Vice-President Kashim Shettima, Vice-Chairman of the Council, emphasized President Tinubu’s commitment to finding solutions to the nation’s economic challenges, stating, “The President believes in preparing solutions, not apportioning blame.”
Mr. Wale Edun, Coordinating Minister of the Economy and Minister of Finance, presented the Accelerated Stabilisation and Advancement Plan, detailing economic issues to be resolved in 2024 by sub-committees in key sectors, including agriculture, energy, health, and business support.
Council members include the Senate President, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Chairman of the Nigeria Governors Forum, twelve ministers, and the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria. Private sector members include Alhaji Aliko Dangote, Mr. Tony Elumelu, Alhaji Abdul Samad Rabiu, Ms. Amina Maina, Mr. Segun Ajayi-Kadir, Dr. Funke Opeke, and Dr. Doyin Salami.
