Research Document: Economic and Policy Review Journal , Volume 21: Number 1 (H1 2023)

Posted Fri, Jun 23, 2023 4:41 PM

The NESG Economic and Policy Review (EPR) is a bi-annual publication of the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG), established to serve as an avenue for constructive analysis of economic policies and their impacts on different aspects of the business and economic environment. The objectives of the EPR are to:

• provide unbiased authoritative insights and opinions on the Nigerian economy;
• provide innovative solutions to key challenges facing the Nigerian economy, and
• shape readers’ knowledge by providing in-depth analyses on trending national, international business and economic developments.

The current edition of the EPR Journal, Volume 21: Number 1 for the first half of 2023 (January-June), focuses on “Priorities for shared prosperity in Nigeria” and contains seven (7) articles as follows:

• On Page 4: Recipes for Shared Prosperity in Nigeria (By NESG Research) – This article outlined the fundamental requirements to foster shared prosperity in Nigeria. The Shared Prosperity Agenda (SPA) entails achieving broad-based economic growth, job creation, poverty reduction, and reduced inequality for all Nigerians. The SPA framework relies on two core objectives – a competitive and sustainable economy and economic prosperity for all, twelve guiding principles, four strategic thrusts, eight enablers, and measurable targets.

• On Page 13: Education: An Imperative Tool for Achieving Shared Prosperity in Nigeria (By NESG Research) – This paper examined the central role of education in achieving shared prosperity in Nigeria, identified the key challenges confronting the Education sector, and proffered measures geared at revamping the deplorable state of education as part of efforts towards achieving shared prosperity in Nigeria.

• On Page 19: The Imperative of Medical Entrepreneurship in Addressing Physicians’ Brain Drain and Health System Strengthening in Nigeria (By Jameel Ismail Ahmad) – A motivated health workforce is central to strengthening health systems. Low and lower-middle-income countries face a shortfall in health workers as a result of health workers' brain drain despite a projected 40 million new health jobs by 2030 globally. Therefore, this article assessed the role of medical entrepreneurship in addressing health workers’ brain drain as an alternative paradigm to strengthen the health system in Nigeria.

• On Page 29: Achieving Shared Prosperity through Functional Social Programmes in Nigeria (By NESG Research) – A functional and robust social protection system is one that is consistently run on a large-scale basis by successive administrations at all levels of government, accessible to many beneficiaries, and adequate in terms of public goods provision. Therefore, this paper proposed how functional social protection programmes could contribute towards achieving shared prosperity in Nigeria.

• On Page 35: Building a Stairway to Shared Prosperity for All Nigerians (By NESG Research) – To achieve improved overall economic growth that will set the required foundation for creating new wealth for all Nigerians, there must be a positive growth rate and productivity across the sectors of the economy. Therefore, this article explained how Nigeria can achieve shared prosperity through sectoral and industrial reforms that pave the way for broad-based sectoral growth and productivity.

• On Page 41: Manufacturing: The Key to Economic Growth and Shared Prosperity in Nigeria (By Kingsley J. Obasi) – Manufacturing is critical to driving Nigeria's economic growth and ensuring a sustainable future for its people. When backed by policies that encourage growth, manufacturing promotes shared prosperity by creating opportunities for job creation, increased productivity, and innovation. Therefore, this paper identified the challenges of growing the manufacturing sector in Nigeria and proposed policies that can foster the development of Nigeria's industrial base.

• On Page 49: Market Reforms for Shared Prosperity in Nigeria: Lesson from China Growth Miracle (By NESG Research) – Nigeria's economy is characterised by elevated uncertainty, which partly explains the reluctance of private investors (domestic and foreign) to commit their wealth to the Nigerian economy over the long term. Therefore, this article leaned on the Chinese experience to suggest relevant market reforms that could be pursued to achieve shared prosperity in Nigeria.