Nigeria Fit to Join BRICS Nations, Says Okonjo-Iweala

Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala,
The Nigerian Minister of Finance

Nigeria Fit to Join BRICS Nations, Says Okonjo-Iweala

The Nigerian Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, said on Monday that Nigeria could be on her way to joining the newly advanced economies called BRICS, made up of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

In a joint interview conducted for her and South African Finance Minister, Pravin Gordhan, by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) on Monday, Okonjo-Iweala, who is also the coordinating Minister for the Nigerian Economy pointed out that Nigeria has all the fundamentals to be one of the BRICS nations.

She said: “I think that I always have this one saying that 'if you are not in Nigeria - and with all due respect and support to my colleague Pravin - you are not in Africa' because our fundamentals, that we are the largest country in terms of population, we are growing at a very respectable rate of 7 per cent and better for the past couple of years, and we have got not only the natural resource base but also the human resource base to be able to do better.”

According to her, Nigeria is tackling several constraints that are holding her economy and industries back, like power.

“When we solve those problems, we are going to be in the low double digits and that will parachute Nigeria into the BRICS,” the minister said.

‘Look towards Africa dynamics’

Prodded further by the interviewer, Ed Butler, on the representative role South Africa seems to be playing for Africa in every sphere, sports inclusive, Okonjo-Iweala said the way she feels is that the world needs to look towards the dynamics of what's happening with growth and development on the continent and not towards the statics of the past.

“And when you look towards dynamics, I think that we need more African countries at the table, and therefore that's why I think that Nigeria very soon merits a place alongside South Africa at these gatherings,” she said.

The minister stressed that having one African country on BRICS would be a good development.

She noted that Nigeria has good relations with South Africa and pointed out that a lot of investment in Nigeria comes from South Africa. She mentioned that despite these, competition still exists.

“I feel that as Nigeria's economy, the structural factors are cleared up and we compete, we should be at that table too. Yes, so our aspiration is to be at that table and I know we will be,” Okonjo-Iweala re-emphasised.

On the analysis by Jim O'Neill of Goldman Sachs, who coined the BRICS term and later talked about the "Next 11" beyond Brazil, Russia and India,China and South Africa,  Okonjo-Iweala accepted that Nigeria fits into this study.

She said: “… Nigeria comes into those. It is estimated that by 2050, Nigeria may have the third-largest population in the world. It's for all these reasons that President Jonathan is at the moment really focusing on a programme that transforms the economy so we can remove those structural factors that are holding us back.”

On how this could be achieved, she said that 53 per cent of the last World Bank poll said the biggest problem of Nigeria is power and access to finance.

“So we have to address these problems square on. So these analyses make clear that Nigeria will make it provided it deals with these issues and that's why we are focusing on dealing with those structural issues.”

Global financial crises

On the effect of global financial crises on Nigeria, Okonjo-Iweala said this affects Nigeria in the sense that 60 per cent of the demand for the country’s product come from Europe and the United States at the moment even though attempts are being made to diversify markets.

But both Okonjo-Iweala and Gordhan agreed that Africa does not need bailout with Gordhan stressing that it is the developing countries that are bailing the developed part of the world out at this point in time.

Okonjo-Iweala said: “We have learned to keep our debt at a sustainable level and to be consistent in terms of the way we manage our macro economy, and I think there are a few lessons there from the financial sector and from macro that could be offered.”

NP/Adeklusibe/Williams