IMF Cautions Nigeria on White Elephant Projects

IMF’s Director for Africa, Antoinette Sayeh

The International Monetary Fund has cautioned Nigeria on the formulation of white elephant projects, advising instead that the country shore up its spending on education and transportation.
The call was made by the multilateral institutions’s Director for Africa, Antoinette Sayeh, who advised double-digit inflation countries like Nigeria, Malawi and Guinea to adopt fiscal and economic policies that would help to reduce inflation.
The IMF executive warned against over-reliance on the oil sector stating that the sector did not offer enough opportunities for employment and true economic growth.
She also said oil rich countries could set up Sovereign Wealth Funds in order to save for future generations instead of spending the money on white elephant projects.
She said, ”It is not enough just to maximise your revenues and then to spend them on white elephants, you have to really be using them wisely and leaving some of the wealth for future generations as well.”
The IMF projects Africa growth to top 5% this year driven by commodities boom, domestic demand and increased foreign direct investment. However there is a real danger that the economic growth will not reflect in African societies due to lack of transparent leadership, and jobs.
BusinessNews