The Federal Government is currently implementing the Economic Sustainability Plan (ESP) with openness to new and creative ideas towards growing the economy.
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo made this known on Tuesday at a webinar with some French business leaders under the aegis of the Franco-Nigeria Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
The vice president, in a statement issued by his media adviser, Laolu Akande, said openness to new and creative ideas is a major feature of Nigeria’s economic response to the COVID-19 pandemic as indicated ESP.
This approach, according to Prof. Osinbajo, has become necessary to save jobs, protect businesses, and attract new investments.
He said, “Part of what the Federal Government has done in its response to the COVID-19 pandemic is to build a business environment that will be supportive of domestic and foreign investors.
“It is important to recognise that the pandemic, which really is the cause of the downturn, not just in the Nigerian economy but practically all of our economies, all over the world, except perhaps China, also provides incredible opportunities for doing all manner of very innovative and creative things.
“If you look at our ESP, which is our response to the pandemic, what we tried to do was to do a few things that we thought would be game-changing. For example, one of the important things that we are trying to do with respect to renewable energy is with solar power.
“We are collaborating with several solar power companies to provide within the next 12 months, five million Nigerian households with solar home systems.
“This is partly to address the issues with the national grid by providing more off-grid capacity and provide more opportunities in the renewable energy space. What we are doing is to get the financing through the Central Bank of Nigeria as part of the Economic Sustainability Plan.”
He stressed the need for the private sector’s commitment to align with the Federal Government’s backward integration policy.
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