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RECENT NEWS ARTICLES Click on one of the following items for more information (more recent)
Why Nigeria fails to learn from Global Crunch - By Experts
AIAE seeks tie with LCCI on wealth creation
AIAE Begins Research on Agric Funding AIAE sets up Group on Industrial Growth
AIAE makes case for Social Security
Why Nigeria fails to learn from Global Crunch - By Experts Emeka Anuforo, Abuja Though Nigeria’s economic vulnerability is further underscored by the global crisis, not enough advantage has been taken of the opportunity, which the crisis presents for addressing the country’s poor economic fundamentals, the African Institute for Applied Economics has warned. According to him, “many non-executive board members are liable to capture by management and do not fully appreciate that they are there to create real value for the society and provide managerial oversight. We cannot afford happy talk for the sake of it. You cannot win the chief executive officer of the year, bank of the year without the leadership passing a test of character. “The most improved bank of the year must be the most improved bank in the critical areas of banking. These awards must mean something and must be as a result of rigorous analysis of the institutions concerned in order to further the competitive spirit. “There are currently too many of these awards. Diminishing their value as the many organizers scramble to democratize the wards, spreading the feel-good feeling. There has been a lot of emphasis on corruption in public governance for good reason, but there is corruption also in the private sector with greed as the common denominator.” Eboh, who spoke at the public presentation of the book ‘The Global Economic Crisis and Nigeria: Taking the Right Lessons, Avoiding the Wrong Lessons, stressed that Nigeria had earlier been warned by renowned economists from the institute and beyond to look ahead of the nominal fiscal and budgetary consequences of the global crisis and consider the deeper implications for sustainable economic growth and longer-term national prosperity. According to him, “the signs of economic stress have lingered. And there is no clearly defined trajectory or life cycle of existing policy responses. For example, the depletion of the excess crude account to offset shortfalls in oil-benchmarked government revenues of the three tiers of government has continued. “In recent years, domestic debts have risen asymmetrically to growth performance. Federal Government’s domestic debt has almost doubled between 2006 and 2009. State governments are accumulating domestic debts through bond issuance. Fiscal deficit has increased, highlighting the prospects of corresponding rise in government borrowing from domestic markers and its likely crowding out effect on the private sector.” Noting that the reoccurring tying of government budget to a benchmark price and quantity of oil does not inspire national confidence in the nation’s economic diversification drive, the institute called attention to the need to learn from the global crunch and give more serious attention to fiscal responsibility and improved quality of public expenditure. “Yet there are doubts regarding progress towards significant fiscal and public expenditure reforms particularly at the state and local government levels. While there exists the fiscal responsibility act at the federal level, only very few state governments have enacted their own fiscal responsibility act or its equivalent.”
INSTITUTE TACKLES GOVERNMENT ON FISCAL DISCIPLINE The Institute recently held a policy seminar on FAR in Abuja with the theme, “Progress and Implementation Challenges of Fiscal Responsibility Act 2007”, where stakeholders brainstormed on how to make the Act work. The seminar was attended by Non Governmental Organisations (NGOs), chairman of Fiscal Responsibility Commission (FRC) Alhaji (Dr.)Aliyu Jibril Yelwa and Honourable Eseme Eyibo, member of the Federal House of Representatives and Chairman, House Committee on Media and Publicity who chaired the occasion. In a statement issued by AIAE,Eric Eboh , executive director noted that government’s fiscal and budget system is a powerful mechanism for driving productivity, growth and prosperity and therefore fiscal responsibility, accountability and transparency in Nigeria cannot be overemphasized. FRA was signed into law in 2007 to redirect governments at all levels to imbibe a fiscal behaviour that will provide prudence and sound financial management in the system. In the statement entitled, “Summary of Proceedings” , Eboh added that though macroeconomic and fiscal policies have improved over the past 6 years, poor budget and public expenditure management remains a vicious drag on government effectiveness. He stressed that, “more importantly, fiscal responsibility at the State and Local governments is crucial for the effective production and delivery of public goods and services. In spite of this reality, the Fiscal Responsibility Act is yet to be replicated or domesticated at the State level. At the Federal level where there is Fiscal Responsibility Act, it is imperative to improve its effectiveness and impact. These circumstances underscore the critical role of the Fiscal Responsibility Commission (FRC) and the need for stakeholders to support the Commission”. The consensus at the seminar, according to the statement was that, fiscal responsibility must be enthroned also in the states and local governments, enlightenment and education of the citizens particularly the stakeholders should be intensified, there is need for increase in the monitoring and enforcement efforts to ensure that the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF), budgets, audited financial accounts, and other reports are prepared and published as and when due, more rigour should be introduced into investigating infractions and reporting of same to the Attorney-General for possible prosecutions, corruption in all its ramifications should not be tolerated, financial and fiscal studies to set standards and expose weaknesses in the present fiscal and financial regime should be undertaken and that government should empower citizens to exercise their duty under Section 51 in order to enforce the Act.
FG, STATES TASKED ON FISCAL DISCIPLINE Governments at the various levels have been asked to imbibe fiscal discipline in their day to day operations. The African Institute for Applied Economics (AIAE) gave the challenge while asking all tiers of government to adhere to the contents of the Fiscal Responsibility Act 2007 (FRA) in order to get rid corruption, which has eaten deep into the fabrics of the nation’s economy. The Institute stated this at a policy seminar on FAR in Abuja, with the theme, “Progress and Implementation Challenges of Fiscal Responsibility Act 2007”, where stakeholders brainstormed on how to make the Act work. The seminar was attended by Non Governmental Organisations (NGOs), chairman of Fiscal Responsibility Commission (FRC) Alhaji (Dr.)Aliyu Jibril Yelwa and Honourable Eseme Eyibo, member of the Federal House of Representatives and Chairman, House Committee on Media and Publicity who chaired the occasion. A statement issued by AIAE Communications and Relations Manager, Mr. Sola Oluwadare quotes the Executive Director, Professor Eric Eboh as saying, government’s fiscal and budget system is a powerful mechanism for driving productivity, growth and prosperity and therefore fiscal responsibility, accountability and transparency in Nigeria cannot be overemphasized. FRA was signed into law in 2007 to redirect governments at all levels to imbibe a fiscal behaviour that will provide prudence and sound financial management in the system.
FRC RAKES N15bn OPERATING SURPLUS Since the inception of the implementation of the Fiscal Responsibility Act till the end of 2009, over 15billion has been recovered by the Fiscal Responsibility Commission ( FRC) from the Federal Government’s corporations as payment arising from their operating surpluses. The disclosure came from FRC at a seminar organised by African Institute for Applied Economics (AIAE) in Abuja on the progress and challenges impending full implementation of the Fiscal Responsibility Act, 2007. Lamenting the reluctance on the part of 36 states of the federation to completely pass their fiscal responsibility law, which formed part of the challenges, the commission stressed that states and local governments see the Act as alien to the concept of true federalism and therefore unconstitutional. The commission chairman, Jubril Yelwa, at the seminar frowned at the degree of compliance with the Act by state and local governments, which is not yet timely and correctly. Yelwa said for the first time ever federal upon monitoring and enforcement of the Act by FRC, prepared and submitted to the National Assembly the medium-term expenditure framework for 2010 and 2012. He added that the quarterly budget implementation reports for the first, second and third quarters of 2009 as well as cash plan of 2009 and draft appropriation bill, 2010 (draft 2010 budget) in November 2009 has also been submitted.
AIAE GETS CAPACITY BOOST, WINS IDRC GRANT Research and networking programmes of the African Institute for Applied Economics (AIAE) received a boost recently as the Institute was competitively selected as one of the African think tanks under the Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Institutions Global Think Tank Grant Initiative. IDRC is one of the world’s leading institutions in the generation and application of new knowledge to meet the challenges of international development. For nearly 40 years, IDRC has worked in close collaboration with researchers from the developing world to build healthier, more equitable, and more prosperous societies. A statement from Mr. Sola Oluwadare, Communication/Stakeholders Relations Manager, AIAE disclosed that the institutional grant feat for AIAE based on how it outsigned other competitors who also bid for the research, The statement added that, “As a matter of fact, the initiative received nearly 300 proposals from a wide range of African think tanks that focus on broad national and international social and economic policy issues. Following a thorough and rigorous review process, 24 think tanks were selected from 11 East and West African countries, including Benin, Burkina Faso, Ethopia, Ghana, Kenya, Mali, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Tanzania and Uganda.” Think Tank Initiative is envisioned as a long-term investment over at least 10 years. The vision for this Initiative is that policymakers in participating countries consistently use objective, high quality research as part of developing and implementing policies that lead to more equitable and prosperous societies. To achieve this vision, the Initiative will target one critical input to the policymaking process, which is policy relevant research by independent research organizations. The Initiative intends to strengthen a select group of independent policy research organizations based in developing countries, so as to enable these institutions to provide objective, high -quality research that both informs and influences policy. The objectives of the Initiative include; selection of a group of promising independent policy research organization and assist them to assess critical areas of strength and weakness, and identify opportunities for improved organizational performance, provision of a combination of general support funding and access to training and technical support to permit these organizations to achieve improvements in research quality, policy linkages and other aspects of organizational performance; and capturing and share learning about strategies for supporting and managing policy research organisations,in order to influence the future activities of the funding partners, think tanks, and other development actors. Giving a brief history of how AIAE clenched the grant, the Executive Director of AIAE, Prof.Eric Eboh described the process as very competitive and instructive, adding that the African side of the Global Think Tank Initiative was launched in May 2009 alongside the annual general meetings of the African Development Bank. “The institutional grant supports three capacity components: research and research networking; communication and policy linkages and organizational strengthening. The programme will last for four years, in the first instance and renewable for another term,” he noted.
AGENCY GETS CAPACITY BOOST, WINS RESEARCH GRANTS A statement from Mr. Sola Oluwadare, Communication/Stakeholders Relations Manager, AIAE disclosed that the institutional grant feat for AIAE based on how it outsigned other competitors who also bid for the research, The statement added that, “As a matter of fact, the initiative received nearly 300 proposals from a wide range of African think tanks that focus on broad national and international social and economic policy issues. Following a thorough and rigorous review process, 24 think tanks were selected from 11 East and West African countries, including Benin, Burkina Faso, Ethopia, Ghana, Kenya, Mali, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Tanzania and Uganda.” Think Tank Initiative is envisioned as a long-term investment over at least 10 years. The vision for this Initiative is that policymakers in participating countries consistently use objective, high quality research as part of developing and implementing policies that lead to more equitable and prosperous societies. To achieve this vision, the Initiative will target one critical input to the policymaking process, which is policy relevant research by independent research organizations. The Initiative intends to strengthen a select group of independent policy research organizations based in developing countries, so as to enable these institutions to provide objective, high -quality research that both informs and influences policy. The objectives of the Initiative include; selection of a group of promising independent policy research organization and assist them to assess critical areas of strength and weakness, and identify opportunities for improved organizational performance, provision of a combination of general support funding and access to training and technical support to permit these organizations to achieve improvements in research quality, policy linkages and other aspects of organizational performance; and capturing and share learning about strategies for supporting and managing policy research organisations,in order to influence the future activities of the funding partners, think tanks, and other development actors. Giving a brief history of how AIAE clenched the grant, the Executive Director of AIAE, Prof.Eric Eboh described the process as very competitive and instructive, adding that the African side of the Global Think Tank Initiative was launched in May 2009 alongside the annual general meetings of the African Development Bank. “The institutional grant supports three capacity components: research and research networking; communication and policy linkages and organizational strengthening. The programme will last for four years, in the first instance and renewable for another term,” he noted. AIAE WINS IDRC GRANT TO BOOST CAPACITY The African Institute for Applied Economics (AIAE) has won Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC) grant to boost its research capacity. A statement from Mr. Sola Oluwadare, Communication/Stakeholders Relations Manager, AIAE said the AIAE outshone other competitors who also bid for the research. AIAE’s Communication/Stakeholders Relations Manager, Mr Sola Oluwadare, made this disclosure while briefing newsmen on how his Institute outplayed other competitors, who also bid for the institutional grant facility on industrial research, growth and development. He said, “As a matter of fact, the initiative received nearly 300 proposals from a wide range of African think tanks that focus on broad national and international social and economic policy issues. Following a thorough and rigorous review process, 24 think tanks were selected from 11 East and West African countries, including Benin, Burkina Faso, Ethopia, Ghana, Kenya, Mali, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Tanzania and Uganda,”
AIAE Empowers To Boost Industrial Growth Daily Independent.
Friday, January 1,2010 (Page 23)
He stressed that the objectives of the Initiative include; selection of a group of promising independent policy research organization and assist them to assess critical areas of strength and weakness, and identify opportunities for improved organizational performance, provision of a combination of general support funding and access to training and technical support to permit these organizations to achieve improvements in research quality, policy linkages and other aspects of organizational performance; and capturing and share learning about strategies for supporting and managing policy research organisations,in order to influence the future activities of the funding partners, think tanks, and other development factors. He however said, “IDRC is one of the world’s leading institutions in the generation and application of new knowledge to meet the challenges of international development.”
AIAE seeks tie with LCCI on wealth creation The African Institute for Applied Economics (AIAE), Enugu has expressed its readiness to work hand in hand with the new President of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), Otunba Femi Deru, on private sector led wealth creation for the economy. The Institute, in a statement, Tuesday, signed by its image maker, Shola Oluwadare, said it welcomed Deru to the exalted position and believes they can work together in strengthening policy dialogue and private sector development activities. “We all know that private sector is critical to the current economic recovery and transformation efforts in the country. We, therefore, need the combined efforts of the OPS and economic research institutes to create wealth from which the government could generate revenue, reduce poverty and insecurity in the economy. “No doubt, we need a virile private sector to make our country respected member of the comity of nations. AIAE shall join LCCI and other private organizations in our advocacy to foster a conducive environment for the private sector to play the role of expected of it in the realization of the country’s vision of becoming one of the top 20 economies by 2020,” the statement said. The Institute, further charged Deru, to use his wealth of experience as a Chartered Accountant, an astute administrator and a conscientious leader to further lift the chamber higher.
AIAE CONGRATULATES NEW LCCI PRESIDENT The African Institute for Applied Economics, Enugu (AIEA) has congratulated Otunba Femi Deru (FCA), on his position as the new president of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI). The Institute described the new position of Deru as a well deserved one "and will no doubt take the chamber to the topmost status in its vision as one of the leading public advocacy organisations in the country". According to a statement from the association, the exalted position is a deserved one and will no dobt take the chamber to the topmost status inits vision as one of the leading public advocacy organisations. "AIAE, as an independent, research institute is devoted to economic research towards promoting evidence-based decision making through sound analysis of socio economic issues, facilitating policy dialogue and private sector development activities, pledges to work hand in hand with Otunba Deru in strengthening this noble course in Nigeria and indeed the continent of Africa . We all know that private sector is critical to the current economic recovery and transformation efforts in African nations." The release futher noted that it would take the combined efforts of the Organised Private Sector (OPS) and economic research institutes to create wealth from which the government could generate revenue; minimize the problem of unemployment, reduce poverty and insecurity in our society. " No doubt, we need a virile private sector to make our country a respected member of the comity of nations. AIAE shall join LCCI and other private organisations in our advocacy to foster a conducive environment for the private sector to play the role expected of it in the realization of the Nigerian vision and renascent Africa . We also commend the former LCCI president, Asiwaju Solomon Onafowokan, who used his two years tenure to passionately champion different debates for the wellbeing of entrepreneurs and businessmen within and outside the Chamber".
AIAE Wants FG to Institute legal framework for social security Amid the current criticisms trailing the National Contributory Pension Scheme which led to knocks indicting the various Pension Funds Administrators (PFAs), from the funds regulatory agency-Pension Commission (PENCOM), the African Institute for Applied Economics (AIAE) has urged government to make social security programmes legitimized by ensuring an all inclusive and sustainable system. According to AIAE, social security can be made more credible through mechanisms that would ensure wider participation and ownership from within the formal (Public and private) and informal sectors. These positions were contained in a communiqué issued at the end of a seminar on social security held in Enugu state and signed by the Executive Director, Professor Eric Eboh Specifically, the Institute observed that social security system in Nigeria was bedeviled with institutional weaknesses, paucity of data, poor planning, unstable funding and maladministration, adding that sustainability of social security programmes in Nigeria is hindered by frequent policy changes, lack of political will and poor succession of strategies. It added that recent institutional and policy reforms in social security, particularly in pensions and health insurance, are commendable and many social assistance schemes that target the vulnerable segments of society such as the aged, sick, unemployed, homeless, disabled and poor often do not inspire public confidence because of low accountability and transparency. The body recommended that more research should be done to investigate and advice on the financing requirements, cost-sharing models and suitable delivery channels for different target groups as well as the potential socio-economic impact of social security. Other recommendations as contained in the communiqué stated that “Social security programs should be legitimized by making it more inclusive and credible through mechanisms to ensure wider participation and ownership from within the formal (public and private) and informal sectors. Greater intergovernmental and interagency coordination and better statistical database are required to develop and operate more transparent, accountable and effective social security system. Social security should be considered as an important element of sustainable development strategy, hence it should be mainstreamed into national and sector planning through institutional criteria that ensure policy continuity, cost-of-living alignment and desired impact. The scale and coverage of existing social security schemes, such as the Contributory Pension Scheme, National Health Insurance Scheme, Conditional Cash Transfers, etc, should be enhanced. It is important for state and local governments to domesticate these initiatives for maximum impact at the grassroots.” In the same vain, Eboh said the Institute was committed to making the Business Environment and Competitiveness Across Nigerian States, second cycle (BECAN 11), second cycle a programme that would ensure evidence-based stakeholders dialogue and feedback for better business environment in the states across the country.
Challenges of Effective Social Security System, by Institute The African Institute for Applied Economics AIAE) has urged the Federal Government and other stakeholders to work towards ensuring an all inclusive e and sustainable social security system in the country. In a communiqué issued at the end of the seminar which focused on Inclusive and Sustainable Social Security in Nigeria, it was agreed that social security systems were justified by the empirical failure of economic policies and development paradigms which assume, what it called, automatic trickle-down effects. The communiqué signed by Professor Eric Eboh, the Executive Director of the Institute said further that social security system in Nigeria was bedevilled with institutional weaknesses, paucity of data, poor planning, unstable funding and maladministration, adding that sustainability of social security programmes in Nigeria is hindered by frequent policy changes, lack of political will and poor succession of strategies. It added that recent institutional and policy reforms in social security, particularly in pensions and health insurance, are commendable and many social assistance schemes that target the vulnerable segments of society such as the aged, sick, unemployed, homeless, disabled and poor often do not inspire public confidence because of low accountability and transparency. The body recommended that more research should be done to investigate and advice on the financing requirements, cost-sharing models and suitable delivery channels for different target groups as well as the potential socio-economic impact of social security. Other recommendations as contained in the communiqué stated that “Social security programs should be legitimized by making it more inclusive and credible through mechanisms to ensure wider participation and ownership from within the formal (public and private) and informal sectors. Greater intergovernmental and interagency coordination and better statistical database are required to develop and operate more transparent, accountable and effective social security system. Social security should be considered as an important element of sustainable development strategy, hence it should be mainstreamed into national and sector planning through institutional criteria that ensure policy continuity, cost-of-living alignment and desired impact. The scale and coverage of existing social security schemes, such as the Contributory Pension Scheme, National Health Insurance Scheme, Conditional Cash Transfers, etc, should be enhanced. It is important for state and local governments to domesticate these initiatives for maximum impact at the grassroots.” The seminar attracted 120 participants all over the country.
AIAE BEGINS RESEARCH ON AGRIC FUNDING
This was disclosed by the Executive Director, AIAE, Professor Eric Eboh recently in Abuja at a seminar to herald the programme. At the event attended by stakeholders from Federal Universities, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Federal government parastatals, National Planning Commission (NPC), International Institute for Tropical Agriculture (IITA) , USAID,and others, Eboh stated that agriculture sector has a critical role to play in poverty reduction in Nigeria , adding that seven out of ten farming households in Nigeria are living below the national poverty line and six out of ten poor households are farmers. He noted that the study is necessary because, “The generic public funding constraint in every economy and in particular the competition for agricultural sector budget among sub sectors makes it necessary to prioritize agriculture commodities. However, in Nigeria, there is considerable arbitrariness and lack of systematic approaches in the allocation of funds in government agricultural programmes. The current “blind” approach to agriculture sector budgeting is inimical to efficient intra-sector resource allocation, as it does not ensure optimal returns to the use of public funds.” The AIAE boss averred that the study, among others, would rank agriculture commodities according to their cost effectiveness in reducing poverty in each zone, saying presently, such information appears not to be available or utilized in the planning of agriculture programmes. He said knowledge guide for policymaking and programming results will help the Planning, Policy Analysis and Statistics (PPAS) department, the Federal Department of Agriculture (FDA), the National Food Reserve Agency (NFRA) and international organizations involved in planning agriculture sector programs to make the greatest impacts using their limited funds. He disclosed that the research would be most relevant if given needed support in providing needed output, yield, expenditure and cost data, utilisation of the findings of the study by the relevant government agencies,communicating results and promoting their use and sustenance of lines of communication and collaboration with relevant staff.
AIAE SETS UP POLICY GROUP ON INDUSTRIAL GROWTH
A statement signed by the AIAE Communication/Stakeholders Relations Manager, Mr. Sola Oluwadare stated that the Group at its maiden meeting in Enugu recently had a brainstorming session on the challenges and implications of federal government budget proposal for 2010. The statement added that PTG deliberated on key issues including rationality for assumptions and targets, linkages of resource allocation priorities of the government, fiscal balance, adequacy of budget documentation, balance of capital-recurrent allocations, alignment of allocations to service delivery and alignment and global best fiscal and budget management principles and practices. The statement also stressed that, “Policy Think Group is an “independent think platform” constituted by experts and practitioners, whose primary motivation is to contribute ideas for the common good. Though the Group is facilitated by the African Institute for Applied Economics, the opinions of individual members of the Group and the entire Group do not necessarily reflect official policy of the African Institute for Applied Economics. The essence of the session was to contribute ideas and inputs for the current budget review-and-appropriation process being undertaken by the National Assembly. In addition, the session was aimed at providing analysis to inform stakeholders that are engaged in public debate on the budget proposal.” The Group, according to him, observes that budget proposal is based on Medium-Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) 2010-2012, in line with the Fiscal Responsibility Act, 2007, which sets out the Federal Government's fiscal policies over the medium-term and connects policies to our priorities under the Seven-Point Agenda and the Vision 20:2020 |
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