Nigeria Finance Minister Says Raising Non-Oil Revenue is the Priority

Lagos, Nigeria, Capital Markets in Nigeria — Government plans more stricter enforcement of revenue collection from federal agencies, state-owned companies, Finance Minister Kemi Adeosun tells Financial Times in interview. 

Other key highlights of the interview are:  

— Dominance of oil has led to Nigeria ignoring collection of revenue elsewhere in economy, allowed government to be “extravagant” on some spending

— Pare down the costs of running government ministries through simple cost-saving measures such as cutting travel and the number of vehicle in convoys.

— Forget about oil — we don’t control the price of oil. That is not where our problem lie” she said. So, stricter enforcement of earnings collection from federal agencies and more diligent bookkeeping were the types of ‘micro’ issues Finance ministry would focus on to mitigate the effects of crude oil prices that remain below US$50 per barrel. 

— Reacting to criticism that she has considerably less experience, Ms Adeosun said her accounting background meant that she had the skills to get Nigeria’s finance in order and emphasized that she will focus more on “micro” instead of the “macro”