Nigeria’s organised private sector has urged the Federal Government to translate recent macroeconomic gains from its reforms into improved productivity, stronger business competitiveness, job creation and increased purchasing power for households.
The call was made by the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise in separate statements as Nigeria marked its 66th Independence anniversary.
President of the LCCI, Leye Kupoluyi, acknowledged signs of macroeconomic stabilisation from exchange-rate adjustments as well as monetary and fiscal measures, but said the ultimate test of the reforms should be their impact on businesses and ordinary Nigerians.
He said stabilisation must result in improved welfare, stronger purchasing power, lower production costs and more jobs.
Kupoluyi noted that manufacturers and micro, small and medium-sized enterprises continued to face challenges including high electricity and alternative-energy costs, expensive credit, logistics difficulties, imported raw materials, regulatory compliance and multiple taxes.
He called for a comprehensive industrial competitiveness programme that would provide dedicated power solutions for industries, expand credit guarantees and development finance, improve trade and customs policies, promote local production of industrial inputs and strengthen industrial and logistics infrastructure.
“Manufacturing must become the centerpiece of Nigeria’s job-creation strategy,” Kupoluyi said, urging the government to adopt sustained policies that would make local production more competitive than importing finished goods.
Similarly, the Chief Executive Officer of the CPPE, Dr Muda Yusuf, said Nigeria’s economic transformation remained incomplete despite growth and diversification in sectors including telecommunications, banking, construction, entertainment, digital services, cement, fertiliser and refining.
Yusuf said the removal of petrol subsidy, exchange-rate reforms and revenue measures had addressed some longstanding fiscal and foreign-exchange distortions, but said the gains had not yet translated sufficiently into relief for households and businesses.
He urged the government to prioritise electricity, security, ports and logistics, agricultural productivity, industrial competitiveness and enterprise-focused skills.
Yusuf also called for coordinated action by the federal, state and local governments to improve infrastructure, investment approvals, basic services and the overall business environment.