•‘How to reposition the media to manage digital disruptions’

Being paper presented by Dr Muda Yusuf, CEO, Centre for the Promotion 

of Private Enterprise [CPPE], at the 19th All Nigeria Editors Conference (ANEC) held on 15th November 2023 at Uyo, Akwa Ibom State

The theme of this conference is ‘Stimulating Economic Growth, Technological Advancement: Role of the Media.’  There is perhaps no better time to have this conversation than now.  The big issue among the economic players and the citizens today is the state of the Nigerian economy and the prospects of recovery. There is profound anxiety and apprehension about the state of the economy, amid recent economic shocks.  The shocks are pervasive, impacting all sectors and categories of businesses – micro, small, medium, large enterprises and informal sector is not spared.

There are serious concerns around the soaring prices of goods and services, depreciating currency, volatile exchange rate, illiquidity in the foreign exchange market, high interest rate and high trade costs.  There are also fears about weak and declining purchasing power, escalating production costs, rising energy cost, slump in industrial capacity utilization and erosion of profit margins. In every crisis, there are opportunities. I would be highlighting the opportunities that the current economic crisis has thrown up for investors.

Distinguished participants, it is appropriate at this point to have a conversation on how to stimulate the economy and restore investors’ confidence. A strong economy is imperative for the media business to thrive.  A virile economy will boost investment, increase prosperity for investors and drive demand for media services.  That is the key nexus between the growth of the media and prosperity of the economy. The media thus has a major stake in the performance of the economy. However, we must get the economic fundamentals right. 

Consequently, I would review in more details the current economic conditions, how we got here, what needs to done and the reform initiatives of the Tinubu administration. I will address the expected outcomes of current economic reforms and the trajectory for the economy.  

The second leg of my presentation focuses on the media, especially the watchdog and advocacy roles for the realization of good governance at all levels of government. The third leg is the focus on digital disruptions of the media space and strategic options for managing the outcomes of the disruptions. 

Context of Current Economic Conditions

 Let me now give some context to the prevailing economic conditions.  The current administration is contending with a legacy of weak macroeconomic fundamentals – currency volatility, high fiscal deficit, low revenue, unsustainable debt levels, rising debt service to revenue ratio, declining reserves and weak investors’ confidence.  There were also global headwinds resulting from the Russian-Ukraine war and tight global monetary conditions. And now we have the Israel and the Palestinian war, the scope of which is still unfolding.

The evidence of the deteriorating macroeconomic conditions did not fully manifest before the exit of the previous administration.  But the reality was that the economy was already in a floundering mode.   The current reforms were designed to correct the legacy of economic distortions and deteriorating macroeconomic fundamentals.  Regrettably, however, the reforms had come with enormous pains, especially with regards to the spike in energy costs, acceleration of food inflation to over 30% and surge in transportation cost. But I should quickly add that these reforms were necessary to pull the economy back from the precipice.  Some of the manifestations of a troubled Nigeria economy were as follows:

Ways and means financing of the Federal Government operations grew from N2.5 trillion in 2015, to N30.7 trillion in May 2023.  This was a jump of over 1, 000%.  This was an issue because this mode of financing deficit is highly inflationary.

The national debt surged form N12.1 trillion in 2015 to N87.4 trillion in July 2023, an increase of over 600%.

Exchange rate depreciated from 196 to the dollar in 2015 to 450/$ in 2022 in the official window.  It slumped from 230/$ in 2015 to 750/$ in 2022 in the parallel market. 

Foreign direct investment [FDI] contracted by $190m in 2022, indicating a reversal of FDI investment flows.

Oil output plunged to 1.2 mbd in 2022, amid persistent output disruptions and the inability to meet the country’s OPEC quota.

 

Outstanding forex obligations and backlog rose to over $7 billion.

Money supply grew from N19 trillion in May 2015 to N55.5 trillion in May 2023, an increase of 192%. Whereas the growth in real GDP was 8.7% over the period, underlying the role of money supply growth as a major driver of inflation.

According to the National Bureau of Statistics, 63% of Nigerian citizens [an estimated 133 million people] were in multidimensional poverty as at 2022.

In the 2023 Sustainable Development Role [SDG] Index, Nigeria was ranked 146 out of 166 countries globally on account of the limited progress towards achieving the SDG milestones. 

According to the IMF 2023 estimates, Nigeria is the largest economy on the African continent with a GDP of $441 billion. But Nigeria’s ranking in Human Development Index on the continent was 28th position, according to the 2022 report of the UNDP

Distinguished ladies and gentlemen, these were a few of the fundamental factors that make economic reforms an urgent imperative. Although the reform process has been hurting, the reality is that there are limited options.  And the media has a role to play in educating the citizens on the inevitability of these reforms. But I must admit that the government could do more to alleviate the pains, especially among the vulnerable segments of the society.

 Role of the Media in Shaping Economic Discourse and Promoting Economic Transformation 

 The media has a responsibility to promote the ideals of good governance which is a necessary condition for economic progress.  

Good governance has been defined as a process that is participatory, consensus-oriented, accountable, transparent, responsive, effective and efficient, equitable and inclusive and consistent with the rule of law. It assures that corruption is minimized, ensures the views of minorities are taken into account and that the voices of the most vulnerable in society are heard in decision-making. It is also responsive to the present and future needs of society. These are the ideals that the media should support our country to achieve.  

From an economic standpoint, a number of basic economic management principles needs to be promoted by the media to ensure economic prosperity and enhance the well-being of the citizens.  These are the principles of level-playing field for all economic players, investment friendly regulatory framework, transparent policy formulation process, consistency of policy, stability of the macroeconomic environment and regular stakeholder engagement, among others. Economic reforms are not ends in themselves, but means to an end. The ultimate goal is to ensure the welfare of the citizens.  

The media should periodically undertake a comparative analysis between campaign promises and actual governance outcomes. This should happen not only at the federal level, but also at the subnational levels. 

The media must champion the cause for accountability in governance in collaboration with the civil society organizations.  The media must lead the agenda setting process.  According to Mahatma Gandhi “one of the objects of a newspaper is to understand the popular feeling and give expression to it; another is to arouse among the people certain desirable sentiments; the third is fearlessly to expose popular defects”.

Regrettably, a major shortcoming in our democracy is that the legislature had not lived up to the citizens’ expectation of ensuring effective oversight over the executive. This is true for all levels of government. This reinforces the need for the media and the civil society to do a lot more to strengthen our democracy and ensure good governance. 

 Public Discourse on Contemporary Economic Issues

 The media should lead public discourse on current and proposed policy measures of government in the overall public interest.  This is in addition to spotlighting gaps in the governance process.  Some pertinent issues include:

Cost of governance.

Quality of budgetary appropriations. Feedback on the impact of government policies.

Effectiveness of current security strategy.

Insecurity has become a major drawback for the investment growth and economic progress.

Auditor Generals’ reports on the MDAs which were not addressed.

Merits or otherwise of privatization of public enterprises.

Management of the fuel subsidy regime.

Corporate governance issues in the private sector.Bottlenecks to international trade at the ports

CBN financing of deficit

Adequacy of government spending on education and health.