Director-General, Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA) Dr John Osemede has said that the Nigerian economy should be driven by the private sector.

Osemede said in Lagos that the “private sector is the engine of growth“ in advanced economies and the only solution to the challenges in the economy.

“The Federal Government should work to make the private sector to run the economy, while it focuses on making and enforcing economic policies and collection of taxes. The private sector seems to operate consistently because the regular government changes makes policy inconsistency and implementation challenges prevalent,” he said.

Osemede said that government should focus on creating an enabling environment for the private sector to lead business growth in the country.

He said that private sector had the capacity to accelerate industrialisation process and open up access to capital for entrepreneurs. Ordinarily, non-national banks are mainly interested in using customers’ deposits to assist businesses to grow, “ he said. Osemede said that the activities of banks in the economy could be effectively influenced by the private sector operators.

“Government should only be concerned about taxes to provide the necessary infrastructure and create the ambience for enterprise to thrive,” he said.