Yemisi Izuora
The Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise (CPPE) has urged the Federal Government to shift its economic reform focus from macroeconomic stabilisation to productivity, job creation and improved living standards.
The Chief Executive Officer of CPPE, Dr Muda Yusuf, made the call in the centre’s assessment of the government’s economic reform scorecard released by the Minister of Finance.
Yusuf said the reforms had delivered measurable gains, including stronger government revenues, improved foreign exchange stability, higher external reserves and increased investor confidence.
The CPPE report coincided with a report published by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), indicating that Nigeria’s economy has recorded macroeconomic stability, including improved foreign exchange stability, moderating headline inflation.
The PwC, said the country recorded stronger external reserves, increased revenue mobilisation, higher capital inflows and resilient economic growth.
The CPPE in its assessment said real Gross Domestic Product growth also strengthened to 3.89 per cent in the first quarter of 2026, from 3.13 per cent in the corresponding period of 2025.
“Macroeconomic stability is a means, not an end,” he said.
He said the real test of the reforms was their ability to deliver higher productivity, stronger investment, more jobs, lower poverty and improved living standards.
According to him, purchasing power remains under pressure, while businesses continue to face high energy, financing, logistics and regulatory costs.
Yusuf said the next phase of reforms should therefore prioritise productivity, competitiveness and household welfare.
He also urged state governments to translate increased statutory allocations and internally generated revenues into visible development outcomes.
He listed roads, healthcare, transportation, education, agricultural infrastructure, security, power and enterprise support as areas requiring greater investment.
“Higher revenues must produce a visible development and welfare dividend, rather than simply finance higher recurrent expenditure and prestige projects,” he said.
Yusuf identified electricity, logistics, insecurity, agricultural productivity, infrastructure, regulatory costs and high cost of capital as major structural constraints to economic growth.
He said the 15.3 per cent contraction in the electricity sector in first quarter of 2026 underscored the urgency of addressing supply side constraints.
He said manufacturing and agriculture grew by 3.29 per cent and 3.15 per cent, respectively, during the period.
Yusuf called for trade policies that protected industries and agricultural producers with credible local capacity against unfair import competition.
He however, said producers should retain competitive access to critical inputs that were not adequately available locally.
He also advocated stronger fiscal and monetary coordination to enable a gradual reduction in financing costs as inflation moderates.
The CPPE chief executive cautioned against reversing the economic reforms, describing such a move as potentially damaging to investor confidence and fiscal stability.
He said policymakers should instead sustain the reform trajectory, while continuously refining its implementation based on evidence and its impact on businesses and households.
Yusuf said: ‘’Nigeria’s next reform phase must move from stabilisation to productivity; from higher government revenues to better development outcomes.
‘’Also, it must move from improving macroeconomic indicators to tangible gains in jobs, incomes and living standards.’’