ABUJA, Nigeria — On Wednesday, May 3, 2023, President Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria, in a bold stride toward economic transformation, unveiled the Nigeria Agenda 2050 (NA 2050).
This ambitious plan charts a course for the nation’s development, aiming to elevate Nigeria among the world’s top middle-income economies by 2050, with a projected per capita GDP of $33,328 per annum.
The president launched the initiative ahead of the Federal Executive Council meeting at the Council Chamber, Presidential Villa, Abuja. He outlined a vision of a dynamic, industrialized, and knowledge-based economy that propels inclusive and sustainable development.
“Given the measures we’ve established for continuous plan implementation, we anticipate that successive administrations will find this document invaluable in delivering on their electoral promises,” said President Buhari.
Buhari recalled that in March 2020, he had approved the development of plans to succeed the Nigeria Vision 20:2020 and the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan, ERGP, which lapsed in December 2020.
The president explained, “To give effect to this approval, I inaugurated the National Steering Committee under the capable leadership of the Hon. Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, and a distinguished private sector operator, Mr. Atedo Peterside.”
The Steering Committee was charged with preparing inclusive plans to ensure balanced development and to establish the necessary legislations for plan implementation beyond the tenure of successive administrations.
This approach, according to Buhari, was actualized with the development of the National Development Plan (NDP) that addresses legislative imperatives for Nigeria.
President Buhari further detailed how he had launched the first of six 5-year medium term plans, the National Development Plan (NDP), 2021-2025, on December 22, 2021, used to implement the long-term plan. The Nigeria Agenda 2050, approved on March 15, 2023, is the latest to be launched.
Praising the efforts of the National Steering Committee, led by the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, the President hailed the public unveiling of NA 2050 as a “historic milestone in our post-independence planning experience.”
According to Finance Minister Ahmed, the plan’s preparation process was broad-based, encompassing all critical stakeholders, including federal ministries, state governments, private sector entities, youth and women’s organizations, labor unions, traditional and religious institutions, and people with special needs, among others.
“The Nigeria Agenda 2050 is formulated to confront existing economic and social challenges, including fragile growth, insecurity, high population growth rate, limited economic diversification, and low productivity,” Ahmed stated. “This blueprint is designed to address these challenges.”
Ahmed presented promising projections under the Plan, including a significant increase in investment as a ratio of GDP from 29.40% to 40.11% by 2050. Employment is expected to surge to 203.41 million in 2050, reducing unemployment to 6.3% from 33.3% in 2020. These projections suggest that the number of people in poverty will dramatically drop to 2.1% by 2050 from 83 million in 2020.
The ambitious Nigeria Agenda 2050 signals a renewed commitment to economic growth and poverty reduction, setting the stage for a promising future for Africa’s most populous nation.
