$100bn lost globally to annual conflict, says Finance minister

Philip Clement, Abuja

The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed, has said that due to devastating effect of war, the world loses an estimated $100 billion annually.

Ahmed explained that security affects the wellbeing of individuals, families, communities, and nation states, which also extends beyond the safeguarding of lives and property to the protection of computer systems and networks from cyberattacks and the use of resilient and flexible strategies to respond to the unconventional tactics of asymmetrical warfare.

The Minister pointed out this while delivery a paper at the 19th convocation lecture of the Nigerian Defence Academy Kaduna titled, “The Governance, Security, and Development Nexus in Nigeria: Innovative Financing as an Essential Enabler”.

Ahmed in her paper highlights that, “According to the African Development Bank, the annual global cost of conflict is estimated at $100 billion.

Fragile and conflictafflicted states are found to lag behind on most development indicators, experiencing higher levels of malnutrition, child mortality and lower school completion rates.

“As we all know, insecurity discourages investment, lowers productivity, and destroys livelihoods.

Progress on the Millennium Development Goals was found to be slowest in fragile and conflict-afflicted countries and for this reason, human security is viewed as essential to the attainment of the SDGs.

“A consensus has emerged recognising security as a precondition for sustainable development.

Defence and security agencies are an intrinsic and essential element of the governance structure of any nation with the level of security determining the sustainability of development.”

The minister believes that in the absence of security, the governance structures in a nationstate are vulnerable to collapse, thus undermining sustainable development, because “Security and good governance are foundational and fundamental to the attainment of sustainable development as they form a critical part of the superstructure on which economic growth and development can be achieved in any country”

Speaking on Nigeria’s approach to innovative financing, Ahmed further explained that: “We in Government continue our efforts to proactively close the SDG financing gap and ensure the appropriate conditions for national development, partially through ongoing reforms aimed at enabling the business environment, creating the right fiscal space for investments, and supporting our diversification away from oil and gas.

“This is being achieved in part through continued implementation of the Strategic Revenue Generation Initiative (SRGI) (a suite of initiatives aimed at enhancing revenues – which I will expand on later in this lecture); strategic cost-cutting measures; and through incremental fiscal reforms via the introduction of annual Finance Bills.

“Furthermore, we are currently finalizing our next-generation medium and long-term National Development Plans; and thinking critically about financing that is sustainable, with increased private sector engagement.

Our goal is that external funding and borrowing will serve as catalysts, while we shore up our domestic revenues and put in place the necessary frameworks and implementation plans to ensure a resilient recovery.

Such an approach will allow us to sustainably finance critical sectors, including human capital development, infrastructure, agriculture, and security.”

In the area of synergy, Mrs Ahmed stated that government is working collaboratively across Ministries, Departments and Agencies, and with the State and Local governments to address financing for key crosscutting issues.

“This includes working to significantly reduce poverty and harness our demographic dividend to achieve sustainable and inclusive growth, partly through job creation and by enabling the private sector (particularly MSMEs) and prioritizing human capital development.

“We continue to re-imagine the social contract between Government and its citizens, and deepen our commitments to the Open Government Partnership, and to open and transparent governance and citizens’ engagement.

“The OGP is an international multi-stakeholder initiative focused on improving transparency, accountability, citizen participation and government responsiveness to citizens through technology and innovation.

Since joining the OGP in July 2016, Nigeria has made progress in deepening transparency, accountability and openness in the management of public resources, especially in terms of the budget process,” she added.

The minister believes that without a pragmatic financing strategy, development plans simply remain lifeless aspirations.

“With this important recognition the Ministry of Finance, Budget, and National Planning has leveraged the current shift in development financing practice, and is adopting new and scaling up existing innovative financing approaches to set Nigeria decisively on the path of sustainable development, peace and prosperity.

“Some specific initiatives include The Strategic Revenue Growth Initiatives (SRGI):, Finance Acts, introducing tax incentives for infrastructure and capital markets; significant tax relief for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs); & increasing revenue for the government.”