The African Development Bank (AfDB) says economic diversification is the only viable option for Nigeria to survive the current global economic downturn occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic.

This was disclosed  by Prof. Oyelaran-Oyeyinka Oyebanji, Senior Special Adviser on Industrialisation at African Development Bank (AfDB), at the 22nd Founder’s Day Lecture of the Igbinedion University, the first private university in Edo state, on Monday.

He said the country cannot progress and respond favourably to the emerging challenges of the 21st century unless it hastily industrialises its economy from the current overdependence on exportation of crude oil.

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Oyelaran-Oyeyinka said: “In pursuit of long-term recovery and sustainable development, Nigeria needs urgent economic diversification. Nothing is more poignantly demonstrative of the danger of over-reliance on a single or narrow range of commodities than the recent crash in oil price we saw in 2020 due to the COVID-19.

Economic diversification entails a shift away from a single income source (oil and minerals) toward multiple income sources from an increasing spectrum of sectors, products and markets,”.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) stated earlier  this year that economic diversification was important to Nigeria and critical for her economic recovery.