Governor of Enugu State, Peter Mbah, has emphasized the importance of economic and financial inclusion as a key driver of economic growth, citing it as the reason for the remarkable increase in the state’s Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) from N30 billion annually to about N500 billion.
Speaking at the inauguration of the Presidential Committee on Economic and Financial Inclusion, which was presided over by Vice President Kashim Shettima at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, Mbah highlighted the role of targeted policies in achieving economic expansion.
A statement from the Enugu State Government quoted the governor as saying that Nigeria’s economic growth could only be realized through initiatives aimed at supporting vulnerable citizens.
Mbah, who is a member of the committee, commended President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for the initiative and expressed gratitude to Vice President Shettima for nominating him for the national assignment, pledging his full commitment.
He stated, “Economic and finance inclusion are for me veritable pathways for growth and inclusive prosperity. After all, we are only largely as strong as the weakest among us. What economic inclusion means to us is that we cannot grow our economy at the expense of our common humanity, which means that we have to carry the weakest among us. We have to design programmes and policies that target those vulnerable among us.”
Calling on the private sector to play a more active role, Mbah added, “That is where I will be charging the private sector to come up with a product paper that will see huge improvement in the digital infrastructure and also the fintech footprint penetration. That way, we are able to essentially provide financial services to those low ones in our society. So, I commend President Bola Tinubu very much for this initiative.”
The governor also addressed the rapid increase in Enugu’s IGR, explaining that the growth was not due to higher tax rates but rather a broader tax base.
“As a governor, I get to be asked often how we were able to increase our revenue exponentially by over 1,000 per cent from N30bn a year to now over N500bn. It is simple. I see economic and financial inclusion as a veritable platform to achieve our growth because one of the major things we have done to increase our revenue in Enugu State is essentially to ensure that everybody comes into the financial services industry. We have not increased our tax rate. We have only expanded the tax net.”
He concluded by stressing that economic growth must be deliberate and strategic, saying, “So, the growth we seek is not going to happen because we wish it to happen. We are going to have to design programmes and policies for that to happen.”
