Federal Ministry of Budget and National Planning (Nigeria)

The Transformation Agenda is a medium term development strategy to speed up the actualization of the NV 20:2020. It is a framework for the actualization of the Federal Government's economic growth agenda during 2011–2015. The Agenda is anchored on the pillars and targets of the NV 20:2020 and it aims to i) create decent jobs in sufficient quantity to resolve the protracted problem of unemployment and reduce poverty, ii) lay foundation for robust and inclusive growth within the Nigerian economy, and iii) improve, on a sustainable basis, the well-being of all classes of Nigerians regardless of their circumstances and location. The four areas of focus of the Transformation Agenda are governance, human capital development, infrastructure and real sector.

The First National Implementation Plan (1st NIP), with the theme "Accelerating Development, Competitiveness and Wealth Creation", is a medium term plan for the actualization of the long term broad objectives and targets of the NV 20:2020. The 1st NIP is the period 2010-2013 and it aims to bridge the infrastructural gap in the country, optimize the sources of economic growth to increase productivity and competitiveness, develop a knowledge-based economy to deepen the technology base of the country, improve governance, security law and order, and foster accelerated, sustainable social and economic development in a competitive business environment. The 1st NIP contains priority projects and programmes of the Federal Government and investment plans for the State Governments. The total investment profile for 1st NIP is N32 trillion, with the Federal Government investing N10 trillion, and the States and Local Governments investing N9 trillion. The private sector will invest the remaining N13 trillion.

A Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) framework has been established to track progress in the implementation of the 1st NIP to ensure high performance and accountability. The M&E framework also includes a Performance Contract between the President and the Ministers/Heads of agencies, which is cascaded down the Ministries and Agencies. A National M&E Report is produced annually.

The Nigeria Vision 20: 2020 is a perspective plan; an economic business plan intended to make Nigeria one of the top 20 economies by 2020, with a growth target of not less than $900 billion in GDP and a per capita of not less than $4,000 per annum. The three Pillars of the NV 20:2020 are i) guaranteeing the well-being and productivity of the people, ii) optimizing the key sources of economic growth and iii) fostering sustainable social and economic development.

NV 20:2020 is Nigeria's second attempt at driving the attainment of her national aspirations using long-term perspective plan. In addition to the first perspective plan (Vision 2010), several strategic planning efforts have been undertaken by the Federal Government in recent years. These efforts include the Poverty Strategy Reduction Papers (PSRPs), the National Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy (NEEDS I & II), Nigeria's Strategy for attaining the Millennium Development Goals, and the Seven Point Agenda.

NEEDS[1] is Nigeria's home- grown poverty reduction strategy (PRSP). NEEDS builds on the earlier two-year effort to produce the interim PRSP (I-PRSP), and the wide consultative and participatory processes associated with it. NEEDS is not just a plan on paper, it is a plan on the ground and founded on a clear vision, sound values, and enduring principles. It is a medium term strategy (2003– 07) but which derives from the country's long-term goals of poverty reduction, wealth creation, employment generation and value re-orientation.

NEEDS is a nationally coordinated framework of action in close collaboration with the State and Local governments (with their State Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy, SEEDS) and other stakeholders to consolidate on the achievements of the last four years (1999–2003) and build a solid foundation for the attainment of Nigeria's long-term vision of becoming the largest and strongest African economy and a key player in the world economy.[2]

On the State level, State Economic Empowerment and Development Strategies (SEEDS) are being developed to complement NEEDS. The donor community, made up of IBRD, DFID, EU and UNDP, is taking advantage of this change to align their local programs to improve the quality of assistance to the country.

Since states receive over 52% of federal resources, NPC – in collaboration with the donors-decided to develop a system whereby state performance can be monitored using SEEDS and to identify priority areas and states that demonstrate effective use of allocated resources.

The SEEDS process was launched in early 2004 and a SEEDS Manual designed by the National Planning Commission (NPC) setting out the required contents and process for an effective SEEDS was disseminated to all state via a national dissemination process involving representatives of government, civil society and the private sector at state level. Subsequently, technical assistance was offered to all state to support the development of their SEEDS by teams of consultants with relevant expertise.

Benefits to Selected States

• The Federal Government, together with a number of donors are committed to provide project matching grants to those States that perform well in the exercise.
• Possible debt relief is to be made available to states that perform well in the exercise.
• Increase Donor presence is also one of the benefit for performing well in the exercise.
• The Federal Government, together with donor partners are also committed to give capacity support to States that perform well in the exercise.