IOD 2017 Luncheon: MainOne Converse Economic Recovery and Growth Plan

IT NEWS NIGERIA:

The prestigious Institute of Directors, Nigeria hosted its annual Fellows’ Luncheon themed “2017 Budget Implementation and Challenges” at the Civic Center, Victoria Island, Lagos recently.

This year luncheon had in attendance directors and executives from major industries in Nigeria deliberating on the Nigerian economic situation and the effect of government projected policies on businesses. It also served as a platform to honor two distinguished Nigerians as Fellows of the Institute.

Funke Opeke, CEO MainOne, was one of the guest speakers at the event and presented a paper on the “2017 Economic Recovery and Growth Plan” and its impact on the business, with a particular focus on the ICT Sector. She highlighted the elements of the plan and emphasized the need for the nation to drive ICT sector development in order to trigger sustainable, economic growth citing examples of developed countries like China who improved their economy using technology.

According to Ms. Opeke, “while the erosion in the economy appears to have slowed, the real transformation or expansion required to diversify the economy from oil or gain access to new enabling infrastructure is still quite nascent”.

She also touched on the challenges that the Nigerian business environment faceswhich makes business operations costly and inefficient with Nigeria currently occupying the 169th position out of 190 countries in the World Bank’s “2017 Doing Business Index”. In concluding her presentation, she commended the ERGP as being laudable but stressed that effective implementation will be critical for its success.

The Chief Economist of PwC, Andrew Nevin also made a presentation on the macro-economic situation in Nigeria andhighlighted the need for foreign capital to grow the economy.

The major highlight of the event was the conferring of the Honorary Fellowship Award on His Majesty, Nnaemeka Alfred Achebe, the Obi of Onitsha and the Distinguished Fellowship Award on Dr. Michael OlawoleOmolayole based on their significant contributions to Corporate Nigeria.