Investing In Humanity Is Investing In Our Collective Survival, Says Buhari in Saudi Arabia

President Muhammadu Buhari has implored the public and private sectors to invest for a long-term prosperous future with short term pains, by investing in humanity.

President Buhari who is currently attending the 5th edition, Future Investment Initiative Summit in Saudi Arabia, said, Investing in humanity is investing in our collective survival.

The president while speaking, said, “Nigeria believe that public and private partnership should focus on increasing investments in health, education, capacity building, youth empowerment, gender equality, poverty eradication, climate change and food security. By so doing, it will go a long way in reenergizing the global economy in a post COVID-19 era”.

Buhari who is also observing the Umrah told participants at the summit that investment at this time must be made to have a human face, as part of a global collaboration to tackle the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

He said, “Nigeria is Africa’s largest economy and most populous nation. Our economic reforms which focus on “humane” investments are ideal for investors looking to have profitable returns while positively impacting the citizenry”.

He further stated, “Investing in Humanity is the right thing to do. I strongly believe the historical under investments in “humane projects” is the genesis of most of the insecurity and socio-economic challenges the world is experiencing today”.

He outlined steps that have been taken by his administration to improve the ease of doing business atmosphere in Nigeria, including yesterday’s launch of the electronic version of the Naira; incentives for individuals and small businesses in agriculture, finance and the oil and gas industry, mining and infrastructure development, as well as Digital Economy.

However, President Buhari sought to use the medium to raise awareness about how much climate change has been contributing to the subsisting insecurity in the country through its impact on Lake Chad, which according to him, has shrunk by more than 85% from its original size, and again called for debt relief for the poorer countries, in order to free up funds for the provision of essential services.

In order to redress this situation and restore the lost fortunes of the Lake Chad Basin region, strong public-private partnership through massive investments will be needed to recharge the waters of Lake Chad. I am confident that this forum will rise to the challenge in the interest of durable peace and sustainable development of our region.

“We cannot invest in humanity without relieving our countries from the crushing effects of the debt burden especially when the COVID-19 pandemic has increased the risk of deepening the debt portfolio of poor countries. These nations increasingly allocate more and more resources towards external debt servicing and repayment at the expense of the health, education and other services that contribute to the overall wellbeing of their population”.

In the short period of its existence, the summit has emerged as a credible forum for interaction between the public and private sectors, to explore ways of advancing economic growth, development and global prosperity.

Omotayo Araoye

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