By Ikechi Nzeako, Lagos
Nigeria’s economic reforms will mean little to households and businesses unless they begin translating into cheaper production, higher farm output, better public services and more productive jobs, the Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise (CPPE) has said.
The centre, in its assessment of Nigeria’s economic trajectory 66 years after independence, said the country’s biggest challenge was no longer simply pursuing macroeconomic stability but converting reforms into tangible improvements in the real economy.
CPPE Executive Director, Dr Muda Yusuf, said too many structural constraints were still suppressing productivity, with farmers recording low yields, manufacturers contending with expensive power and logistics, and a significant proportion of employment remaining concentrated in low-return activities.
The centre said the next phase of economic management should therefore be built around productivity, urging the Federal Government to prioritise electricity, security along farming and commercial corridors, ports, logistics, agricultural productivity, industrial competitiveness and enterprise-oriented skills.
It argued that public interventions in the productive sector should be linked to measurable outcomes, including investment, efficiency and export performance, rather than merely providing support without clear productivity targets.
According to CPPE, lowering the cost of producing goods and services in Nigeria should be at the heart of economic policy, alongside efforts to expand domestic supply and improve consumers’ purchasing power.
The organisation noted that although inflation had eased, the prices of essential goods and services remained substantially higher than their previous levels, leaving households and businesses under pressure from the cumulative effects of fuel-price increases, exchange-rate adjustments and global food and energy shocks.
It said transportation, food, electricity and other essentials were consuming a larger proportion of household incomes, while businesses were similarly grappling with increased input, distribution and financing costs.
CPPE stressed that the ultimate test of economic reforms would be their impact at the point where Nigerians live, work and conduct business, urging the Federal Government to sustain macroeconomic stability while addressing security, electricity and transportation bottlenecks.
It also called on state governments to improve land administration, roads, investment approvals, education and healthcare, while urging local governments to maintain community infrastructure, strengthen basic services and eliminate arbitrary levies imposed on small businesses.
The centre said the three tiers of government should be judged by concrete improvements such as lower transportation and production costs, increased agricultural yields, more reliable public services, improved learning and healthcare outcomes and the creation of more productive jobs.
It further urged governments to make public spending more transparent by enabling citizens to identify what additional resources were spent on and what measurable improvements resulted from such expenditure.
