Shamsuddeen Usman - Economy and Finance

Economy and Finance

Dr Usman was appointed as the Minister of Finance of Nigeria from May 2007 - January 2009. In this role, he served as the Head of the Economic Management Team and as the Vice Chairman of the National Council on Privatisation. Usman introduced a system of performance-based budgeting and pursued various economic reforms such as reducing the average Nigerian Ports Clearing time from approx. 2 months to approx. 14 days during his tenure; increasing the capitalization, trust and effectiveness of the insurance sector together with pursing the implementation of the Insurance Act; cancellation of illegal waivers and concessions which led to revenue leakages of over $2 billion; reducing Nigeria's external debt; and easing customs charges and capital market charges for operators to promote a vibrant and hassle-free environment for investment in the economy.

In times leading to the presentation of the government`s budget by the President (Umaru Musa Yar'Adua) to the National Assembly, Usman did not enjoy a cordial relationship with a few Members of the Senate and House of Assembly as both, on all occasions during the preparation of the budget, were pushing for increased government spending against Usman's wishes, particularly as the Nation was suffering from dwindling oil revenues. Usman claimed the reason for this is that the Economy of Nigeria lacked the capacity to take this increased spending, given its deflated revenue base and in order to control inflation and curtail corruption and improper implementation as in the Power Sector during the Obasanjo administration; this should be avoided. Usman blamed the low level of execution of the 2008 budget partly to the delays caused by the National Assembly in approving the Budget, a statement that the Members of the National Assembly were very unhappy with.

In preparing the 2007 (appropriation), 2008, 2008 (appropriation) and 2009 budgets, Usman also introduced a system of budgeting based on Medium Term Development Plans as opposed to misguided annual budgeting which showed coherency with respect to national development plans in succeeding years, as was done in the past.

In a similar manner to Trevor Manuel, the previous Finance Minister of South Africa, Usman was appointed as the Minister/Deputy Chairman of the National Planning Commission of Nigeria and as the Chairman of the Steering Committee on Nigeria Vision 2020 in January 2009. In this role, he is responsible for Economic and Developmental Strategy of the Nation through the formulation of a Medium Term National Plan/Policy Framework, a Long-Term National Plan (Nigeria Vision 2020) and working with the Ministry of Finance to set the overall objectives of the Annual Budget (Short-Term Plan).

He is also responsible for supervising the Monitoring and Implementation of these National Development Plans, the European Development Fund (EDF) Country Strategy Paper (CSP) and the National Indicative Programme (NIP). As the Minister of National Planning, he also oversees the National Bureau of Statistics, the Centre for Management and Development and the Nigerian Institute of Social and Economic Research (NISER).

He is also a member of the Presidential Steering Committee on the global financial crisis.