‘Don't expect quick economic turnaround'

Though the economies of most advanced nations are experiencing some appreciable level of recovery, the Federal Government, yesterday, urged Nigerians, and indeed Africans, to forget about a quick turnaround in the near future.

Nigeria's Vice President, Goodluck Jonathan, told participants in the 39th Annual Accountants' Conference organised by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) in Abuja, yesterday that the impact of the global economic recession is so severe in some African countries that contemplating immediate recovery would be dangerous.

Represented by the Finance Minister, Mansur Muhktar, Mr. Jonathan blamed the situation on the inability of the countries to foresee the economic crisis and take steps to initiate remedial measures to cushion the adverse impact on the people.

"For the developing world such as ours, the generally weak integration with the rest of the global economies perhaps, made us feel that we would not be affected by the crisis, at least not initially, and so we delayed to take preventive measures on time," he noted.

Knock-on effects

To him, the resultant skyrocketing prices of food, together with unstable commodity prices as well as uncertainties in the industrialised nations' financial markets, have had knock-on effects on developing nations. He pointed out that high fuel costs, soaring commodity prices, together with fears of global recession, have exposed commodity-dependent economies to considerable external shocks as a result of the instability in prices in international commodity markets.

He traced the problems in the nation's banking sector to the fallout of the drastic reduction in the volume of foreign direct investments as a result of credit squeeze, adding that "while the full effects of the global slowdown remain uncertain and vary between countries, it is clear that the impact on African countries although, initially limited, has become, in some cases, severe. We should be wary of any quick turnaround for our continent, because even if global recovery is attainable, that of African economies may take longer time," he warned, adding that the major challenge to government is how to implement short term responses to the crisis, while staying focused on long term sustainability.

ICAN President, Mrs. Elizabeth Adegite, said the conference, titled: "Think Global, Act National" was initiated to afford members the opportunity to benchmark the country's national practices and standards against global best practices, to help accelerate its development.

She urged government to diversify the country's economic base away from oil by initiating policies to promote the development of the agricultural and solid minerals sectors to insulate it from the vagaries of the global economy.