The Bank of Industry (BoI), at the weekend in Lagos called on stakeholders in the economy to significantly boost production of goods consumed within the country, necessary for attaining the $1tr economy envisioned by the Federal Government by 2026.

Enhancing domestic production, the bank said at the 2024 annual workshop of the Finance Correspondents Association of Nigeria (FICAN) in Lagos, will also reduce the nation’s dependence on imported commodities, thereby reducing pressure on the Naira.

Contributing to the theme of the workshop: “Nigeria’s Journey Towards $1 Trillion Economy: Impact of Banks’ Re-Capitalization, Opportunities for Fintechs, Real Sector,” the Divisional Head, Services at the BoI, Dr. Isa Omagu, who was one of the panelists at the event, noted that “the economy stands on both the monetary and fiscal sides, we need both sides to work together.

“While the monetary side is trying to stabilize prices which is its primary mandate, we also need the fiscal side on the issue of governance to come in,” he said, lamenting that the lack of production remains a challenge in the country.

“We are not producing enough, and we cannot continue to consume imported goods and expect the economy to be robust,” Omagu warned, urging support for the productive sectors of the economy.

Continued investment in critical sectors such as agriculture, infrastructure and services to a reasonable extent, he believes, will drive production to a level necessary to “minimize importation into the country, and the pressure on our forex will go down.”

On government intervention in the last six months, Omagu said: “From BoI as a government institution, one of the things we are doing to boost production is support for Small and Medium-Scale Enterprises.”

According to him, if we continue to support them in production, it will reduce pressure on importation as this will boost backward integration and there will be reduction in the importation of some of the raw materials used for production.

At that point, Omagu said the only thing the country may be importing is equipment, noting the need to ensure raw material needed for production are sourced locally.

As way of encouraging production, Omagu spoke of “a N200bn integration fund, N50bn grant for SMEs in the rural areas and currently… We have disbursed up to 98% of the money; N50,000 per beneficiary.

“Then there is N5 billion for SMEs, it is a loan payable over a long period of time, and it is at a single rate. This is supposed to help SMEs to access funding, which is always a very key condition that you have when they are trying to do business.”

He noted that “there is a fund for one million SMEs and another one for large enterprises who are into manufacturing. The Funds are given at a single digit rate, up to seven years, which will enable them to bring in equipment to do their business.

“Hopefully, all these initiatives will grow employment, minimize import dependency and we will be able to produce for export. This will also help in having Non-Oil FX coming into the country.”