By Gift Olivia Samuel, The Sight News
AKURE: Following the deleterious impact of the COVID-19 pandemic which disrupted business activities globally, the Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria(CBN), Mr. Godwin Emefiele, has called for collective efforts to ensure the success of the Produce, Add Value and Export (PAVE) option, to mitigate against future severe consequences of shocks on the economy.
Emefiele, who made the call on Thursday, March 24, 2022, in a virtual keynote address at the opening of the 32nd Seminar for Finance Correspondents & Business Editors, holding in Akure, Ondo State, with the theme, “Exchange Rate Management and Economic Diversification in Nigeria: The ‘PAVE’ Option”, said the call for synergy is a clarion call to patriotism.
The CBN Governor, who was represented by the Deputy Governor, Corporate Services, Dr. Edward Adamu, noted that ‘PAVE’ is expected to make Nigerians consume what they produce, add value to it, and even export the surplus, adding that it is an initiative akin to South-East Asia’s much referenced export-led industrialization policy which changed the economic fortunes of countries such as South Korea, Taiwan, Malaysia and Singapore.
According to him, “PAVE – Produce, Add Value and Export (PAVE), is designed to be the key for fast-tracking a bucket of substitutes to Crude oil export. It encourages backward integration for the local production of select items.
“Nigeria like most commodity-dependent countries was not spared the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, given our dependence on crude oil export as a major source of revenue and foreign exchange. It is to mitigate against future severe consequences of shocks beyond our control that we must all join hands to ensure the success of PAVE. It is a clarion call to patriotism.
“Despite the headwinds associated with the pandemic, the Central Bank has worked very hard to ensure that Nigeria remains a vibrant economy with a diversified mix of opportunities across sectors such as ICT, Manufacturing, Solid Minerals, Trade and Agriculture. Notwithstanding these modest achievements, we cannot afford to rest on our oars as the work is far from over”, he said.
He further disclosed that the CBN’s 3-year bilateral currency swap agreement of US$2.5 billion, equivalent to ¥15.0 billion or N720.0 billion with the Peoples Bank of China (PBoC.) is yielding positive results in terms of meeting genuine demand for foreign exchange and exchange rate stability.
While noting that the Seminar facilitates exchange of information and ideas between the Bank and the media toward the good of the country, he stated that it also seeks to achieve better public understanding of the apex bank’s carefully thought-out, and situation specific approach to the management of monetary policy and demonstrated support for the economic development of the country through sustained emphasis on diversification.
He thanked the media for their dedication and support which he said, have contributed in no small measure to the achievements recorded by the Bank in recent times, and assured of their cooperation.
For his part, the Director, Corporate Communications Department, CBN, Mr. Osita Nwanisobi, said the PAVE option is the only thing new in the discussion as the issue of diversifying the economy has been on for over 40 years.
Nwanisobi, who was represented by the Head, Internal Communications Division, Mr. Sam Okogbue, explained that the CBN Governor has for the past six years hammered on the need for Nigeria to produce, process and make it possible for her commodities to be exported, adding also that to support his words with action, Emefiele started with agriculture.
“What the CBN is saying is that, we need to produce, we need to emulate the Asian tigers of Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia and South Korea to develop the capacity to deal with our economy and to improve our economic environment so that our produce will be cheaper to enter into the export market”, he said.
He disclosed that the Seminar is important as it will help those who write about the economy [Journalists] to begin to internalize the problem, so as to write from the position of strength.
