Godwin Emefiele, Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), has enjoined private sector operators to support the government’s efforts at creating jobs and wealth for the overall growth of the nation’s economy.
Speaking on Tuesday, December 5, 2017, at the Blue Band Factory launch of the Unilever factory, Agbara, Ogun State, Emefiele said the nation’s huge population; mostly youth offers a ready market and opportunities investors can take advantage of.
He also challenged government to focus on growing the economy faster than the three per cent population growth rate to ensure prosperity by transforming its population into assets.
“We must plan to feed our growing population so it does not become a disadvantage,” he stressed, pledging the CBN’s support for any company committed to the objective of job creation.
A statement by the apex bank on Wednesday quoted the governor as saying there are many Nigerian youth, he continued, whose potentials could be harnessed to strengthen the country’s industrial base.
He recalled with nostalgia the practice in time past when companies tested and offered jobs to the brightest among fresh graduates of different disciplines before they proceeded for their national youth service, stressing that a vast number of Nigerian youth were hardworking and willing to contribute their quota to the development of the country.
Emefiele also commended the management of Unilever Nigeria Plc for heeding the call to return to Nigeria and build a world class plant capable of producing in spite of the foreign exchange challenge that necessitated the CBN to restrict access to some 41 items, including margarine, which could be produced in Nigeria.
Emefiele the gathering, which included representatives of the British and Dutch envoys as well as bank chiefs, that the policies of the CBN and its aggressive intervention in the interbank foreign exchange market management had ensured transparency in the foreign exchange market, coupled with an accretion to the foreign reserves that now stand at $38.2 billion.
Welcoming guests earlier, the Executive Vice President of Unilever Ghana & Nigeria, Yaw Nsarkoh lauded the CBN for supporting the company to achieve its goal of setting up the plant in Agbara and boosting capacity in Africa.
While urging investors to disregard negative stories about Nigeria, Nsarkoh noted that businesses must be part of the solution to thriving communities.
Highpoint of the ceremony was an inspection of the new Blueband factory by the CBN Governor and other guests present at the ceremony.