According to a statement by WorldStage, the organizers, keynote speakers at the summit will include Hon. Rotimi Amaechi, Minister of Transportation, Nigeria; Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu, Minister of Science and Technology, Nigeria; and Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta, Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Nigerian Communications Commission.

The experts who will discuss the theme of the summit ‘New Reality: Consolidating Economic Diversification’ include Abiola Rasaq, Head, Corporate Strategy, Central Securities Clearing System, Lagos, Nigeria; Dr Joy Ofinjite Ogaji, Pioneer Executive Secretary of the Association of Power Generation Companies (APGC); Nosa Omorodion, Director, National Companies & Independents; Schlumberger Companies Nigeria and West Africa; and Dr Ayodele Shittu, Economics, Entrepreneurship and Innovation Coach, Department of Economics, University of Lagos.

Interested stakeholders across the world are expected to register freely through the Zoom Registration Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZcvceiprjMpHNQiVYFLXxEPfTEXwW9T-izt for them to participate in the summit.

President/CEO, World Stage Limited, Segun Adeleye said the theme of the WES 2020 is timely as the twin challenges of COVID- 19 and EndSARS protests across Nigeria have exposed the fragility of our peaceful coexistence as the youths have been limited to hopelessness.

He said economic diversification is the key to address youth unemployment which could be linked to the frustration that sparked off the latest protests.

“The lesson learnt from EndSARS protests by the youth demands rapid action on the part of the business and political leaders to open up opportunities through economic diversification,” he said.

With the non-oil sector contributing 91.07% to Nigeria’s total GDP in Q2-2020 compared with 8.93% from crude oil, one may not be wrong to say that the economy is already diversified. But there is an anomaly in the reality that the oil sector is responsible for 95% of foreign exchange earnings.

Since oil was discovered in Nigeria in 1956 at Oloibiri in the Niger Delta after half a century of exploration, there is still a wide gap between the exploration and integration into the economy to reflect an appreciable contribution to employment and the GDP, while the non-oil sector has not stepped up to become competitive, break into the global market and attract commensurate quantity of foreign exchange to strengthen the Naira and attract foreign investment.

With Nigeria accounting for over 51% of West Africa’s population of 403,303,318 as at August, 2020 (United Nations estimates), its products- services, agriculture, and industries can dominate the sub- region if well packaged and delivered to bring in the much needed foreign exchange.

The focus of the WorldStage Economic Summit 2020 will be to access the economic diversification journey and proffer solutions on the way to fast track industrialization.

Specifically, economic and political leaders will revisit the issues of: Ease of doing business; policy instruments, infrastructural advancement (power, transportation, others), banking and cashless economy, education and skill, regional/global outlook, macroeconomic policies, boosting agriculture and agricultural value chains, strengthening manufacturing sector, credit and venture capital, minerals exploration, blue economy, innovation and destructive technology, human capital advancement, and Corporate governance/anti corruption.

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Dr. Shittu, an expert in Entrepreneurship and Business Innovation Economics, who lectures in the Department of Economics, University of Lagos, whilst delivering the lead paper Titled, “TRANSFORMING BUSINESS AND ECONOMY THROUGH INNOVATION” during the #Worlstageeconomicsummit2017, explained that commitment, consistency, and sincerity of purpose on the part of the business and political leaders and followers is required to transform the Nigeria’s business environment for greatness and prosperity.

According to him, Nigeria’s business environment is yearning for innovation in order to fulfill its potential of stimulating economic prosperity. In view of this, Dr. Shittu noted that as a nation, we must promote collaborative relationships between the university and our industries.

He also said we must develop SMART focus for specific economic sectors, promote knowledge sharing between the enterprises in both formal and the informal sectors, put in place physical centers such as business incubators, accelerators, etc, encourage innovative supply of infrastructure and utilities as well as prioritize innovative financing options to both existing and new businesses.

His paper which assessed Nigeria’s business environment on the basis of three indicators (i.e. ease of doing business, business confidence, and capacity utilization), revealed that Nigeria’s performance on the ease of doing business over the last eight years which depicts an increasing trend, implies a woeful performance between 2008 and 2016, where Nigeria ranked 169th position among 190 economies around the world.

According to him, this consistent diminishing in ranking was considered embarrassing to us as a nation, and as such, nudged the Federal Government in its wisdom to set up the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council to supervise the competitiveness and investment climate agenda at both federal and state levels in the country.

On Nigeria business confidence index, Dr. Shittu noted that there is a glooming perception of the business environment among leading firms in selected sectors of the Nigerian economy.

“Since the first quarter of the 2016 FY through the second quarter of the 2017 FY, we have witnessed negative perceptions of business activities in the country. While the level of pessimism is declining, common constraining factors cited among the firms surveyed include financial barriers, unfavorable political climate, competition, and insufficient local demand.” He said.

Although, Dr. Shittu stated that, this should not come as a surprise to all of us, giving that we are witnesses to the countless foreign trips embarked upon by our leaders to woo foreign investors.

He disclosed that, “Unfortunately, for majority of them, their search for vineyard yielded only thorns and rotten fruits as indicated in the erratic increase in Nigeria’s foreign direct investment (FDI) inflow from 2014 till date.

Speaking on Notable factors that have contributed to our declining level of competitiveness which include health, education, and security. Shittu explained that, Nigeria’s educational system, if not prioritized, may see reduction in future human capital.

“The available evidence, in this regard, shows that the score of the skills of the future workforce sub-pillar is lower than the score of the current workforce by 10 percent or more.”

He noted that Nigeria is ranked 108/135 on the Business Dynamism and 90/135 on the Innovation Capacity indicators, but despite these, Nigeria remains the best in Sub-Saharan Africa in terms of market size.

According to him, some Notable private sector initiatives some of which are the “Business Environment Legislative Review Report,” which was prepared by the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG) and successfully delivered to the National Assembly; and the “Business Environment and Competitiveness across Nigerian States” (BECANS), which was initiated by the African Institute for Applied Economics (AiAE), professes that appropriate regulatory and legislative instruments, as well as independent evidence-based research matters for the development of an enabling business environment.

However, up until date, it is unfortunate that the task of creating an enabling business environment for the purpose of promoting national prosperity in this country remains a mirage.”

He stated that more still needs to be done in order to create the change that we all desire. Acknowledging the progress made so far, Dr. Shittu stressed that now is the time to take action, which does not connote the business as usual attitude.

“Instead, we need to rethink our business culture and create innovative approaches to creating, nurturing and developing transformed local businesses with global outlook. But we must bear in mind that the process of transformation is not linear,” he advised.

The President/CEO of Worldstage Group, Segun Adeleye, in his opening remarks, charged all Nigerians and business owners within the country to imbibe innovation for economic development.

According to him, diversification into non-oil sectors may not be enough to sustain the nation’s economic development without adapting new ways of doing things. In his words, “Nigeria is projected to be the third most populous country behind India and China by 2050, any diversification now without innovation by businesses and government may be tantamount to running on the same spot.”

Adeleye explained that the theme ‘”Transforming Business and Economy Through Innovation’ was inspired through a new thinking. “The reality today is that we have an economy where the majority is disenfranchised and trapped in irrelevance.

“Yet we are at a time in history of information explosion when nothing is hidden about where countries are and where they want to be in the future. While we are still lamenting the lost opportunity to have developed with our oil wealth in the past, we can see the future unfolding before us, just as how the internal combustion engine is projected to die and the oil business, the mainstay of our economy is to become obsolete in the very near future.”

He said, If we all know the shape the future is taking, we as a nation cannot afford to be stranded with costly obsolete technology or waste valuable time before changing direction, unless we want to remain the dump site of the future.”

“With the calls for Nigeria to diversify its economy from oil after several missed opportunities in six decades, the new question begging for answer, is how fast and far can diversification solve economic problems in the short, medium and long terms?”

He advised that “We should not make the mistake to think that because the people in government are educated and well-travelled, they will be conversant with the shape of things to come and pursue the right policies in infrastructure development, education, smart grid, clean energy among others. Sometimes, we have to question our sensitivity, sanity and care for fellow human beings and our country.”

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