Taiwo Popoola
Bismarck Rewane, a popular economist and the Chief Executive Officer of Financial Derivatives has said that Nigeria’s $1 trillion economy target under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu will not be possible in the next four to five years.
Rewane said this recently during an interview on Arise Television.
Speaking on Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product which grew to 3.19 percent in the second Quarter of 2024, he posited that the growth rate is too slow to achieve the $1 trillion economy target.
He noted that Nigeria’s tax-to-GDP increased from around 4 percent to 9 percent, and there is no noticeable improvement in the well-being of Nigerians.
He added that global economic shocks were impacting Nigeria’s economy negatively.
“What are the broadmark economic goals of this economy? We wanted to be among the top 20 economies in the world, and then we were 26. Today, we are 32 so we have worked our way down the ladder of success.
“Secondly, we now said that we want the economy to be a $1 trillion economy but now we are $384 billion which means we have to have like 200% growth in the next 4 to 5 years, that is not going to happen,” he said.
Recall that in 2023, Tinubu at the Nigerian Economic Summit announced that the $1 trillion economy target is doable in three years.