LCCI, ICA task President-elect on economic policies

THE Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) has tasked the incoming administration of General Muhammadu Buhari to make the creation of a conducive business environment a priority.

In a communiqué issued at the end of its council meeting on Wednesday, the chamber noted that addressing macroeconomic factors like the high cost of doing business and low productivity, as well as institutional challenges and structural issues should be taken seriously.

In a similar vein, the Institute of Credit Administration (ICA) yesterday congratulated the President-elect, General Muhammadu Buhari, for his hard-fought victory at the March 28 election but has charged him not to fail Nigeria and Nigerians who warmed up to his message of change to elect him president.

In a statement signed by the Registrar/Chief Executive Officer of the institute, Prof. Chris Onalo, Buhari was urged to endeavor to deliver in accordance with his campaign promises.

“As Nigeria’s only national body for overseeing and monitoring standards, behavior and administration of those who give, take, facilitate and manage credits in the economy, ICA is confident that you have the requisite discipline to lead our great country into the next regime of strong economic prosperity, social justice and freedom.”

The LCCI also urged the President-elect to address other issues, including blocking of all fiscal leakages and waste in government, especially in respect to the management of petroleum product subsidies, while calling for the immediate review of the activities of the Joint Task Force in the Niger Delta area, where revenue is being lost daily due to crude oil theft.

It added that government expenditure should also be prioritised in order to boost investments in critical infrastructure. “The challenges of high cost of governance, collapse of the rail system and poor power supply also demand urgent attention,” the chamber stated.

First among the ICA’s recommendation to the president-elect is addressing the nation’s urgent economic, social and security situation, and building a strong economy for the future.

“Your approach should be to focus very quickly on structural reforms, fiscal responsibility and investment. You will quickly gain local and global acceptance if you drastically cut cost of doing business in Nigeria.

“Set up as a matter of urgency a national agency that guarantees access to loans by SMEs, and not to disburse loan to them. Such agency can be called – Nigerian Credit Guarantee Corporation (NCGC).

If a National Credit Guarantee Corporation is set up by the federal government with strong capital base and very robust operating fund, it would serve as collateral and security, which people who want to borrow money do not have, that is, those within the class of SMEs. This is the practice in other countries,” the statement noted.