By Yinka Kolawole

The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) has charged the Federal government to channel all diplomatic efforts towards boosting foreign trade and expanding non-oil exports to the level of trade surplus in 2025.

Direct General of LCCI, Dr Chinyere Almona, stated this in a statement responding to the New Year speech by President Bola Tinubu, noting that the address underscores both opportunities and challenges as Nigeria embarks on the journey to achieving the ambitious goal of a one trillion-dollar economy.

“The President’s desire to work more collaboratively with the international community is a good idea. However, for Nigeria to really explore inherent opportunities in international relations, we must do more to create an enabling business environment attractive enough to boost our Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs) this year.

“All our diplomatic efforts should be geared towards boosting foreign trade, especially when we can boost our non-oil exports to the levels of recording trade surpluses  in  2025. We need critical investments in the telecommunications sector to boost the digital transformation agenda of this government. Similarly, the Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) initiative requires huge investment in infrastructure.

“Both digital transformation and energy transition are quite critical to achieving the level of industrialisation required to power a one trillion economy,” she stated.    

While commending the government’s efforts so far towards achieving the successes highlighted in the president’s speech, Almona reiterated concerns about the consistency of policies and the reforms currently driven by the government.

“We expect the reforms to deliver on easing the high rate of inflation, the burden of high interest rates on businesses, business shutdowns, and job losses, and the resolution of persistent challenges facing power supply, national security, and food production in our nation.