What you Should Know About Doyin Salami, Buhari’s New Chief Economic Adviser

This week, Nigeria’s President, Muhammadu Buhari, appointed economic expert Doyin Salami as his chief economic adviser, six years after the country’s economy took taken a spiral downturn.

Under the Buhari administration, Nigerians have experienced many economic failures, including two recessions, a high debt profile, double-digit inflation, and a forex crisis.

Salami, 58, was appointed to salvage the worse situation, barely 17 months to the end of Buhari’s tenure. As part of his responsibilities, the new economic chief is expected to review all domestic economic issues and present his opinions and recommendations to the president.

According to presidential spokesman Femi Adesina, Salami will also oversee national and international trends and develop appropriate policy responses. He will develop and recommend national economic policies to foster macroeconomic stability, promote growth, create jobs, and eradicate poverty.

Doyin Salami’s credentials

He is a senior fellow and associate professor at Lagos Business School of Pan-Atlantic University and leads sessions in the Economic Environment of Business.

Salami had worked as a lecturer at the University of Lagos in the Department of Economics after working at Adetutu & Co, where he began his career.

From 2010 to 2017, he was a member of the Monetary Policy Committee of the Central Bank of Nigeria. In Sept. 2019, Buhari appointed him as the Presidential Economic Advisory Council (PEAC) chairman, which reported directly to the president.

Salami has authored many scholarly publications. He is a PhD graduate of Queen Mary College, University of London. Some of his research works include corporate long-term financial management, macroeconomic policy, corporate competitiveness and risk management, and focus on small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

In 2015, he was named vice-chairman of the committee that executed the transition of the Goodluck Jonathan administration.

Private and Government Projects

Salami is the chief executive officer of Kainos Edge Consulting Limited, a consulting firm, through which he has undertaken consulting works for the Department for International Development (DFID), the World Bank, United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO), and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

He has also worked as a consultant for multinational corporations such as British American Tobacco (BAT), BGL Securities Ltd., Coca-Cola Nigeria, Equatorial Africa (CCNEAL), and Kakawa Discount House.

Anti-government Economist

Although Salami has served in different capacities under the Buhari administration, he is known to have opposing views against some of his employer’s economic decisions.

As an advocate of a free market, he has recommended liberalising economic policies under the incumbent government.

When he served as the chairman of the economic advisory council, Salami canvassed for the removal of petrol subsidy and advised the government to adopt a pricing regime that reflects the cost of the commodity.

In 2017, Salami had berated the CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele over Nigeria’s fiscal and monetary policies. He described the CBN’s move as a “piggy-bank” service with its extravagant funding of government activities.

ALSO READ: Report Shows that Nigeria’s Economy Failed in 2021

According to him, CBN’s claims on the government had risen “20-fold” to N814 billion from the end of 2016, while its purchases of government treasury bills increased by 30 percent to N454 billion.

Salami had said: “Perhaps the most challenging of the present characteristics of the economy in Nigeria is the adoption of a quantitative easing stance by the management of the Central Bank. Monetary data shows a sharp rise in the extent of CBN financing of the government deficit.”

“It is clear that the CBN has provided piggy-bank services to the federal government. While I still wonder what the underlying economics is, I sincerely hope it works.”