The International Monetary Fund has said that Nigeria’s economy stands to grow at five per cent beyond the current 3.19 per cent if there is a 25 per cent removal of bottlenecks around governance and business regulations.
IMF Resident Representative, Christian Ebeke, said Nigeria is growing at three per cent but has the potential to grow at five per cent by “simply reducing the governance bottlenecks and business regulations by 25 per cent only.”
The IMF’s projection on Nigeria’s economic growth came after the National Bureau of Statistics reported that the country’s Gross Domestic Product grew by 3.19 per cent (year-on-year) in real terms in the second quarter of 2024.
Ebeke made his remarks on Tuesday at the 2024 International Business Conference and Expo organised by the Lagos Chamber of Commerce & Industry in Lagos and themed ‘Invest Nigeria’.
He noted that Nigeria’s economic reforms, including the financial and external sector liberalisation, need to be consolidated to “transform the country’s nascent momentum into something more general.”
Nigeria lagged as an emerging market due to structural gaps in governance and business regulation, and closing the gaps will trigger a multi-durable growth acceleration, the IMF Resident Rep added.
