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In this season of probes on
various sectors of the Nigeria’s economy, there are insinuations that the
enquiries are witch-hunting exercises to nail some personalities of the
previous administration. More worrisome are the emerging tribal sentiments
being expressed on some of the investigations.
While every individual has
the right to personal opinion, parochial allegations and attempt to politicize
the process may derail the wisdom of correcting the wrongs of the past so as to
address the myriads of problems bedeviling our nation. For instance the ‘power
probe’ is justifiable in tracing huge monetary allocation to the energy sector
without tangible projects on the ground. That of the oil sector is to determine
the actual receipts from our major source of revenue whose operations were
shrouded in secrecy. The searchlight on the privatisation policy would unravel
the appropriateness of disposals of our collective patrimonies. Likewise the
FCT Probe could be timely considering the litany of petitions from people who
alleged victimization, maltreatment and pauperization against the former
administration of federal capital city. The exercises also offer the accused
persons and agencies to clear on the charges.
These probes could not have
been targeted at any ethnicity or region… nor a battle of supremacy between the
North and the South as every section of Nigeria has its individuals and groups
as beneficiaries as well as victims of the past actions. Probing the probes may
make the picture clearer.
So far the most contentious
probe is that on the Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) which has generated a lot
of debates, divisions and diversionary reactions. The controversy is so intense
that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the major promoter of the corporation,
had to place disclaimers to dissociate itself and debunk tribal jingoists who
were spreading rumours of persecution of one of the major players.
A probe as a query is not an
indictment until a proper examination is undertaken to determine otherwise. If
anything, going by a document credited to the Secretary to the Government of
the Federation (SGF), Ambassador Baba Gana Kingibe, the genesis of the
government’s enquiry is to perfect the process of the investment by the
CBN in the new multilateral financial institution of which Nigeria is a major
stakeholder. According to the document, the SGF clearly stated that:
"Following a request for the conferment of legal status on the African
Finance Corporation pursuant to Section 11(2) of the Diplomatic Immunities and
Privileges Act (Cap D9) Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004, it became
necessary to carry out a due diligence on the corporation before considering
the request."
Sadly names of Minister of
Finance, Dr. Shamsudeen Usman and Chief Economic Adviser to the President, Mr.
Tanimu Yakubu Kurfi were parroted in hushed tones as brains behind the probe.
Unfortunately for such faultfinders, the two public officers are sincere
technocrats and intellectuals of high repute. Going by their antecedents, they
do not operate on the basis of sectional sentiment or attach themselves to
myopic alliances. In fact Dr. Shamsudeen Usman, while he was Deputy Governor of
Central Bank of Nigeria, joined other highly qualified Nigerians in the
Technical Committee that provided the guidelines for the establishment of AFC.
Other members in that committee are individuals that had worked at higher
levels in different multilateral institutions. They included Chris Edordu,
pioneer President of Afreximbank in Cairo; Dr. Oba Fajana, former
economist with the World Bank in Washington and Dr. Seyyid Abdullahi, former
Director General of OPEC Fund in Vienna who some years ago was denied the
Chairmanship of African Development Bank (ADB) in one of the glaring
continental conspiracy against Nigeria. Therefore Dr. Usman could not
have stooped so low to betray the project he and other eminent Nigerians had
conceived and supported.
While some Nigerians may have
reservations on some past CBN’s courses of action, for instance the suspended
redenomination of Naira and aborted Dollarized Allocation respectively, the
bank’s investment in the Africa Finance Corporation is no doubt a good idea
that could catapult Nigeria to realise its dream on Vision 2020.
Though the use of the word
PROBE over the investment in AFC could send a bad signal to its shareholders
and prospective investors from within and outside the country, the available
fact so far has shown that no fund was alleged to be missing or
misappropriated. Likewise the investment is not a ‘white elephant’ or
fictitious project. The fund can be traced and recovered if need be.
History of global financial
and multilateral institutions started with initiatives of other countries who
later become nations to reckon with in international politics considering their
shrewd judgments. AFC is aimed at achieving the philosophy of FSS 2020 and also
Vision 20 2020 being promoted by present administration of President Umaru Musa
Yar’Adua.
Launched in April 2007, the
Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) is Nigeria’s initiative and promoted through
the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) with the support of some major banks in the
country. The corporation is a private sector-owned entity operating as a
regional investment bank to fund key economic sectors that are vital for
Africa’s development goals through financial products - loans, guarantees, risk
management products, equity participation and venture capital, technical
assistance and advisory services at large scale.
In defending the project,
Prof. Charles Soludo stated that the $462 million invested by the CBN to set up
the AFC was sourced from Federal Government bonds and not from any account of a
foreign bank. He added that the process for setting up AFC started in January
2006 and the final agreement was signed about 17 months later. He stated that
the CBN Act allows the bank to go into any investment for the economic
development of the country if approved by the Federal Government. He cited
similar investment of the bank in Nigerian Deposits Insurance Corporation
(NDIC), Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) amongst others.
According to him, the money
invested in AFC is safe, secured and yielding interest. And that with time CBN
would reduce its share to about 10 per cent. He added that besides some African
countries that had subscribed to the concept, some Canadians had offered to invest
about $100 million but the management of the corporation had asked them to wait
because of the on-going valuation of the investment, emphasizing that the
investment was critical to the achievement of the 2020 goals.
With many countries and
international bodies showing interest in investing in the corporation, from
available information, AFC is already carrying out some big projects in the
power sector and construction industry that would generate revenue to the
corporation.
The Africa Finance Corporation
is not a Father Christmas institution where fund will be doled out freely;
every penny invested is accounted and easily recouped with profit and interest
based on the structure of its operation.
In the area of branding, AFC
could serve as a veritable instrument to reinforce the position of Nigeria as
economic power in the continent and positively project her image to the
international community. South Africa as a country has provided similar bodies…
in fact in entertainment industry alone, it demonstrates her superiority in the
continent through Annual Kora Awards and the Channel O
Awards as highest bodies that recognize musical artistes in Africa and
enhance the image of South Africa as more nations and acclaimed artistes
participate in the competition.
If only we realize the
politics in African regional financial institutions where Nigeria, with its
high stakes and few other nations, are maltreated over the years, the idea of
AFC should have even come long time ago to enable the country provide a
leadership role in the economic development of the continent.
Since the only allegation
about the investment so far is on procedural error in the process of
authorization for the release of funds on the project, the best that could be
suggested is to correct any suspected lapses so as to support the new
multilateral initiative.
The debate over this lofty
idea of AFC should neither be myopically narrowed to ethnic sentiments nor
killed on the basis of egocentricity. It may be necessary too to advise all
public institutions and their principals to avoid ego trips. Instead they
should observe due process and respect constituted authorities in their
dealings and work harmoniously in tandem with the direction of the present
administration.
Yushau A. Shuaib
yashuaib@yashuaib.com
Wuye Estate, Abuja
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Authors 
Posted by Robot| 04.05.2008 23:50