The Equipment Leasing Association of Nigeria (ELAN) says it is willing and ready to partner the various tiers of government and other stakeholders in the task of enhancing wealth creation and value contributions to the nation’s economy.
Reacting to the Federal Government’s Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) 2017-2020 unveiled last week as part of efforts to take the economy out of recession, as part of tackling the current economic challenges to grow the economy, the association called for integration of its members into actualization of the programme.
The association, in a statement by Andrew Efurhievwe, its executive secretary, also pointed to the fact that the Nigeria’s leasing industry has supported national economic development, contributing about N4.83tr to the GDP in the past 15 years, while assuring that it can achieve even much more, going by the present economic realities “where outright purchase (of machineries) is becoming difficult, especially to the MSMEs.”
It particularly welcomes the projected additional N800bn ($2.63bn) in annual export earnings and government revenues, expected to further enhance the nation’s foreign exchange reserves, while stabilising the Naira, besides the focus on such key sector as agriculture where the government hopes to achieve food security.
In line with this, the government is looking at attaining self-sufficiency in rice and wheat production, besides being a net exporter of rice, cashew nuts, groundnuts, cassava and vegetable oil by 2020, according to the plan.
Specifically, the association assured that its members can provide players in Nigeria’s agric sector unhindered access to requisite farm machinery like tractors, ploughs for mechanised farming, which would in turn lead to enhanced yield, while creating more jobs and wealth.
“In other sectors such as manufacturing, telecommunications, transportation and even infrastructure development, leasing has the capacity to facilitate the desired transformation, for the benefit of the MSMEs and the nation at large. The opportunities leasing gives is very apt, much more at such times when Government is canvassing for the promotion of made-in-Nigeria goods, to further enhance our export potential and stabilise the economy,” Efurhievwe explained further.
He listed some benefits of leasing to include: “cash management/ considerations; flexibility and convenience; obsolescence hedge; less restrictive form of financing; end of term options; absence of collateral/security; (and) favourable financial reporting.”
Still on the projections, the ELAN scribe described government’s plan to grow GDP by 2.19% this year as highly commendable, having the capacity to set the country on the pathway of true economic growth and recovery.
He stressed that “equipment leasing plays a strategic role in economic development, and would be very relevant in the achievement of these set out policy initiatives. Specifically, leasing will play an important role in the economic recovery process by, enhancing the activities of the value chain in all sectors of the economy, thereby facilitating employment generation and wealth creation.”
He further noted that “leasing has been used globally by developing countries to enhance growth and development including the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) sector, which is the engine of growth of any economy”.
No doubt, the provision of capital assets is crucial to the success of any productive venture, and in our peculiar circumstances, it is imperative that reasonable access to credit is at least guaranteed.
“A major way of achieving this is through equipment leasing, a financing option that can be utilised for the purpose of enhancing capital formation,” the statement added.