Lagos, Aug. 24, 2024 – The Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise (CPPE) has urged the federal government to fine tune its economic reforms to focus more on welfare of citizens.
The Centre gave the advice in a statement issued on Sunday on the gains of the economic reforms.
It said the federal government should sustain the reforms rather than reverse it as being suggested by some Nigerians.
The CPPE said reversal of the reforms would be damaging to the economy as it would undermine investor confidence, weaken fiscal stability, destabilise the foreign-exchange market and reintroduce distortions that the reforms were designed to correct.
“Such a reversal could trigger significant economic dislocations and erode the gains already achieved.
“The reform trajectory should therefore be sustained, while implementation is continuously refined in response to emerging realities,” it said.
The CPPE advised that the reform instruments should be continuously recalibrated in response to evidence, implementation experience and their impact on businesses and households.
It urged the federal government to refocus much more strongly on productivity, competitiveness and household welfare in the next phase of its reform exercise.
“The next phase of reform must therefore focus much more strongly on productivity, competitiveness and household welfare,” it said.
The Centre commended the minister of finance for the presentation of the economic reform scorecard last week, adding that the presentation had brought greater clarity to the fiscal and macroeconomic outcomes of the reforms and addressed important concerns in the public discourse.
“Such transparency is critical to reform credibility. CPPE particularly welcomes the Minister’s balanced acknowledgement of both the gains and the adjustment costs of the reforms.
“The reforms have delivered measurable macroeconomic gains.
“Government revenues have strengthened, the foreign-exchange market has become more stable, external reserves have improved, the trade surplus has expanded and investor confidence has recovered. Real GDP growth strengthened to 3.89% in Q1 2026, from 3.13% in Q1 2025.
“These are important foundations for investment and growth. But macroeconomic stability is a means, not an end. The real test is whether stability translates into higher productivity, stronger investment, more jobs, lower poverty and improved living standards,” it said.
The CPPE, however, said the transmission of the gains of the reforms has remained incomplete as purchasing power of average Nigerians was still under pressure, while businesses continue to contend with high energy, financing, logistics and regulatory costs.
“The reforms have significantly expanded the fiscal space of state governments through higher statutory allocations and, in many cases, stronger internally generated revenues.
“This should translate into a much larger development role for the states. Citizens should demand measurable outcomes in roads, healthcare, public transportation, education, agricultural infrastructure, security, power and enterprise support.
“Higher revenues must produce a visible development and welfare dividend, rather than simply finance higher recurrent expenditure and prestige projects.
The CPPE said Nigeria’s major constraints are increasingly structural: electricity, logistics, insecurity, agricultural productivity, infrastructure, regulatory costs and the cost of capital.
It said the electricity sector contracted by 15.3% in Q1 2026, while manufacturing grew by 3.29% and agriculture by 3.15%.
“Accelerating productive-sector growth requires a decisive reduction in these structural costs.
“Trade policy should also support domestic productive capacity. Industries and agricultural producers with credible local capacity deserve calibrated protection against unfair import competition, while producers should retain competitive access to critical inputs not adequately available locally.
“The prevailing high-interest-rate environment is equally challenging. As inflation moderates, stronger fiscal-monetary coordination should create room for a gradual easing of financing costs without jeopardising macroeconomic stability,” it said.