Experts Call for Strategic Diversification to Achieve Akwa Ibom Beyond Oil
By Ekemini Simon
Stakeholders have called on the Government of Akwa Ibom State to adopt a deliberate and strategic plan to diversify the State’s economy if the oil-rich State must achieve long-term fiscal resilience.
The stakeholders made up of Civil Society Organisations, the academics, media and youth of the State warned that continued reliance on oil exposes the State to fiscal risks and long-term economic vulnerability.
The call was made during a webinar titled “Akwa Ibom Beyond Oil – Real or Rhetoric?” organised by Policy Alert in partnership with the Natural Resource Governance Institute and Youth Voices 2060.
According to the communiqué issued at the end of the webinar, Akwa Ibom State must invest in agriculture to employ thousands, boost food security, and tap into global seafood demand.
The government was asked to expand tourism by leveraging the state’s cultural heritage, natural beauty, and coastline to attract domestic and international visitors.
Other recommendations included the need for the State to open Akwa Ibom to global markets through trade-friendly policies, improved infrastructure, and partnerships that maximize its strategic coastal location.
The stakeholders asked for increased investment in education, healthcare, and skills acquisition to prepare Akwa Ibom’s youthful population for opportunities in agriculture, renewable energy, and ICT.
“The Government must deepen engagement with communities, especially women, youth, and marginalized groups, in shaping and implementing diversification policies.
Akwa Ibom State Government must align state policies and budgets with the realities of the global energy transition to ensure that “Akwa Ibom Beyond Oil” moves from rhetoric to reality”, the Communique added.
Participants had observed that oil derived revenues are what is driving the State economy exposing the state to external shocks.
They noted that placing non-oil revenues alongside recurrent expenditure of the last two fiscal years – 2023 and 2024, there is little fiscal room for capital expenditure.
They said when the IGR basket is interrogated, it reveals a reliance on taxes from the oil sector, showing that the government of Akwa Ibom State is not deliberately steering its economy away from dependence on oil-derived revenues.
The stakeholders maintained that Akwa Ibom has failed to position itself as a leader in renewable energy, particularly solar, hydro and tidal energy to align with global trends, especially due to the State’s strategic location by the Atlantic Ocean.
“There is inefficiency associated with IGR management with leakages in both revenue collection and expenditure”, the communique stated.
Earlier in the keynote delivered by the Country Manager of the Natural Resource Governance Institute, Tengi George-Ikoli, she said the discourse was necessary owing to the fact that global oil demand is projected to peak by 2030 due to the energy transition.
She noted that continued reliance on oil exposes sub-national governments, especially States that rely heavily on oil revenue to fiscal risks, stranded assets, and long-term economic vulnerability.
George-Ikoli said on that backdrop, it was only reasonable that States like Akwa Ibom State align its fiscal and development strategies with the realities of the global energy transition.
The session was moderated by Edidiong Dickson – Head Energy, Extractives and Climate Justice Programme and the Coordinator Youth Voices 2060 Secretariat had Emem Edoho, the Executive Director of Network Advancement Programme for Poverty and Disaster Risk Reduction, Mmanti Umoh – Senior Consultant, Purple Patch Consults, and Ekemini Simon – Head Investigative Reporting Desk at TheMail Newspaper as panelists who provided insights into the opportunities and challenges of moving Akwa Ibom beyond oil.