$3.4b loan: There’s a limit to what a country can borrow… Alex Otti warns FG

A foremost Nigerian banker and economist, Dr. Alex Otti has made strong case for African countries to take very decisive and well thought out economic measures to halt the mess which the Coronavirus pandemic has literally brought on African economy, especially Nigeria.

Speaking during a special interview he granted to an international television station, AfricaNews,  monitored in different African countries on Tuesday, May 19, 2020, Otti disclosed that African economies were badly hit “because most of them are mono economies.”

Alex outlined that with the disruption in the global supply chain, as well as the disruption in globalization, import dependent economies like Nigeria have been plunged into suffering, as he urged those in authority to concentrate their energies “on what is important now which include food, clothing, healthcare delivery and other basic needs of man.”

Responding to the projection by IMF that the Nigerian economy could slide by 3.4 percent in 2020 and possibly lead to a recession that could last until 2021, Dr. Otti expressed confidence that Nigeria can handle the situation, but only if it would be ready to hit the reset button and do things differently, by paying attention to food security, as well as reducing her dependence on imports, since the country is blessed with enough resources.

He made special case for the prioritization of healthcare in the county, and recalled the Abuja Decclaration of 2001 during which African countries gathered and agreed that 15 percent of their budgets should go into healthcare delivery, and regretted that Rwanda and South Africa are the only two countries that presently implement the policy.

However, he commended Nigeria’s robust response against Covid-19, by building testing and isolation centres and taking other effective measures in the fight against the pandemic, and made strong case for Nigeria to look inward and build effective healthcare centres as well as equip Nigeria’s healthcare professionals to meet the health needs of the people, like the treatment of common diseases.

Expressing his views on what should be the plan of the Nigerian Economic Team in the post-Covid-19 Pandemic, Otti restated his earlier calls for the pruning down of Institutions, offices and structures of governance, especially, political offices to reduce the avoidable  wastages that drain Nigeria’s resources,insisting that Nigeria does not have a choice since oil must disappear one day.

On the soaring Nigetian debt profile, especially after taking a loan of 3.4 billion dollars from IMF, the financial expert expressed fears that 90% of Nigeria’s foreign exchange earnings are drawn from oil and gas, and advised that until the country carries out strong structural reforms that could make the country less dependent on oil, the country would keep borrowing.

He warned that “there’s a limit to what a country can borrow, hence the need for Nigeria to explore the opportunities provided by the Coronavirus pandemic to hit the rest the button and ask herself salient questions.”

Otti also reminded Nigerians that mistakes of the past when loans were used to pay salaries and fund flamboyant lifestyles of politicians gave room for the decay in infrastructure, and made it clear that no economy grows without massive investment in infrastructure.

He, therefore, harped on the need for Nigeria to take another look at the political and economic structures of the country, insisting that the present opportunity is a golden one that should not be misused.