Nigeria is on the road to economic diversification as the country maintains its emphasis on non-oil exports, particularly with the Nigerian Export Promotion Council’s zero-oil strategy, according to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.
Segun Awolowo, the NEPC’s departing Chief Executive Officer, addressed a delegation of the NEPC at the Presidential Villa in Abuja yesterday.
Laolu Akande, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity in the Vice-Office, quoted the vice president, saying, “We are set on the right path, and I like the fact that we are focused on non-oil exports. We are facing the challenges, and we are facing them head-on.”
“In the next few years, those of us who are policymakers and looking at the future, must, today, have a plan. In fact, we have set ourselves on an inevitable course of a zero-oil plan.”
The vice president also urged players in the industry to prepare for the difficulties ahead. “Public investments from the European Union, from multilateral organisations for oil and gas, are fizzling out.”
“It is very important to note that we are certainly getting away from the oil and gas era. In the past, we used to think that it would still take a while. But today, with the circumstances and all of the various factors around the world (less dependence on oil, Climate Change, and COP), it is inevitable.”
