A former President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Dr. Olisa Agbakoba (SAN), has said that Nigeria can achieve N1 quadrillion economy within 10 and 15 years.
He lamented that Nigeria has one of the highest currency volatilities in Africa, with the naira depreciating by over 40% in 2024 alone, ranking among the continent’s worst performing currencies.
These were contained in his letter to the Minister of Finance, Mr. Wale Edun, a copy which was made available to journalists on Monday.
Agbakoba said: “We currently have one of the highest currency volatilities in Africa, with the naira depreciating by over 40% in 2024 alone, ranking among the continent’s worst performing currencies.
“With 1 billion naira worth less than 1 million dollars, demand naturally tilts toward the dollar. The root cause is simple. The naira lacks fundamentals — tangible economic pillars that give people reason to hold and use. To reverse this, we must create fundamentals to back the naira.”
The Senior Advocate of Nigeria proposed three transformative reforms that could create these fundamentals and unlock over N1.5 quadrillion in economic value.
He identified them as land and real estate titling, credit economy expansion and mechanization of agriculture in Nigeria.
He stated that Land and Real Estate Titling Reform Studies done by the World Bank, PwC, and his firm OAL showed that 90% of Nigerian land and real estate have tainted, defective, or no titles.
Agbakoba said: “Unlocking trapped property assets that are presently dead capital will encourage investors who currently prefer to buy properties abroad to buy in Nigeria.
“This will deepen naira denominated asset markets, reduce dependency on dollar denominated assets for wealth storage, and strengthen demand for the naira by creating viable local investment alternatives.
“Using the World Bank and PwC’s conservative estimates of $900 billion in dead capital, at today’s rate of ₦1,500 to $1, this represents N1.5 quadrillion. The economic impact of releasing N1.5 quadrillion into productive use cannot be overstated.
“A robust policy and legal framework to support a credit process will be transformational. 200 million Nigerians, each with ₦300,000 in credit facilities, would inject ₦60 trillion into the economy.
“Naira-denominated credit will boost domestic consumption of locally produced goods and services, reduce import demand and foreign exchange pressure. A thriving naira credit market will deepen domestic financial markets and make the naira more attractive as an asset and reduce the speculative attacks that drive exchange rate volatility.
The former NBA President called for the mechanization of agriculture in Nigeria.
He noted that in the United States, only 2% of the workforce are in agriculture, yet the sector contributes 5.5% to GDP and generates $1.5 trillion annually.
He said in Nigeria, by contrast, 30 to 38% of the workforce, 15 to 19 times more workers proportionally, is employed in agriculture.
He stated that with Nigeria’s GDP at approximately $188 billion, the sector contributes 25 to 26% to GDP but generates only $47 to 49 billion annually, less than one thirtieth of America’s agricultural output despite having a vastly larger workforce.
Agbakoba said: “The transformation we need is mechanization, and the potential money flow would be tremendous. With a well developed policy and legal framework, capital will flow into the economy.
“The agricultural sector is badly impacted by the titling challenge as defective and tainted land titles are precisely why we remain at subsistence level. Farmers cannot access capital for mechanization without proper collateral.
“Moving from subsistence to mechanized agriculture will increase productivity, reduce post-harvest losses, enhance food security, and position Nigeria as a net agricultural exporter.
“Agricultural exports will generate substantial foreign exchange earnings, increasing FX supply and strengthening the naira.
“More critically, food self-sufficiency will eliminate the need to import basic staples, currently a major source of foreign exchange (FX) demand.”
COURTESY: iwitnesslive.com