Tanzania is set to take Nigeria through stages of sustaining economic recovery following its exit from recession in order to prevent a relapse.
The President, Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, Dr. Frank Jacobs, stated this on the sidelines of the pre-Annual General Meeting media briefing in Lagos on Wednesday.
Jacobs said the former President of Tanzania, Mr. Benjamin Mkapa, who is billed to deliver a lecture titled, “Sustaining Economic Recovery: Gleaning from the Tanzanian Experience,” led his country out of economic challenges and placed it on the path of sustainable growth.
Tanzania had suffered an economic recession in the 1980s as a result of the 1979 war with Uganda.
Failing to secure a loan from the International Monetary Fund in 1979, the country launched its first Self-Guided National Economic Survival programme as well as economic reforms aimed at trade liberalisation in 1985.
Prior to Mkapa’s assumption of office in 1995, Tanzania’s economy was state-controlled but by 2005 when he completed his tenure, the economy moved from a command economy to a market economy.
The Tanzanian economy, which is driven mostly by agriculture (agriculture contributes 50 per cent to the Gross Domestic Product), has continued to grow strongly since the 1990s.
The Current GDP per capita of Tanzania grew more than 40 per cent between 1998 and 2007 and overall, real economic growth has averaged about four per cent a year.
Jacobs said the Tanzanian former president who would speak at the MAN AGM themed, “Recovery and Growth of the Nigerian Economy,” would teach valuable lessons about how to sustain the exit from recession.
He said, “Our choice of the speaker was based on his experience in managing an economy that experienced serious challenges like ours.
“We believe that the valuable experience he will share with us will further enrich our macroeconomic policy thrust and our government can learn one or two things from the Tanzanian experience and apply them to addressing our challenges while also adopting our home-grown policies and strategies towards resolving the challenges of the economy.”
On the line up of programmes for the AGM, the Head, Corporate Affairs, MAN, Mr. Ambrose Oruche, said the activities had been broken into two parts, adding, “On September 13, there will be private sessions starting at noon which will dovetail into an interactive session with the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, and the Comptroller General of Customs, Col Hameed Ali(Retd).
“The second part will take place on September 14 and this includes public session featuring manufacturers’ annual lecture at noon. There will be exhibition of made-in-Nigeria products throughout the two-day AGM.”
Oruche added that President Muhammadu Buhari was expected as the special guest of honour during the event.
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