By Mary Izuaka

 

The Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise (CPPE) commended the federal government’s economic reform programme, saying the measures have produced measurable macroeconomic gains.

The CPPE disclosed this in a statement issued by its Chief Executive Officer, Muda Yusuf, on Sunday, days after the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, presented the federal government’s economic reform scorecard.

The scorecard, presented on 19 August in Abuja, assessed the benefits, costs and potential harms prevented by the reforms introduced by President Bola Tinubu’s administration.

The reforms, which include the removal of the petrol subsidy and changes to the foreign exchange market, have significantly altered Nigeria’s fiscal and economic landscape since June 2023.

While the government said the measures have strengthened public finances, improved foreign exchange stability, and restored investor confidence, they have also increased the cost of living and of doing business, with Nigerians continuing to contend with high food, energy, and financing costs.

Mr Yusuf said the government’s disclosure of the reform outcomes was important because transparency was necessary to build public confidence in the measures.

“The data provided 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,” Mr Yusuf said.

Macroeconomic gains recorded

The CPPE said the reforms have delivered measurable macroeconomic gains, adding that 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 per cent in Q1 2026, from 3.13 per cent in Q1 2025. These are important foundations for investment and growth. But macroeconomic stability is a means, not an end,” he said.

Mr Yusuf said the real test is whether stability translates into higher productivity, stronger investment, more jobs, lower poverty and improved living standards.

That transmission, he said, remains incomplete.

“Purchasing power remains under pressure, while businesses continue to contend with high energy, financing, logistics and regulatory costs. The next phase of reform must therefore focus much more strongly on productivity, competitiveness and household welfare.”

Demand for accountability at state level

The think tank said 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,” he said.

Supply side should be next reform frontier

The CPPE said Nigeria’s major constraints are increasingly structural: electricity, logistics, insecurity, agricultural productivity, infrastructure, regulatory costs and the cost of capital.

He said the electricity sector contracted by 15.3 per cent in Q1 2026, while manufacturing grew by 3.29 per cent and agriculture by 3.15 per cent.

“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 think tank said the prevailing high-interest-rate environment is equally challenging, stressing that as inflation moderates, stronger fiscal-monetary coordination should create room for a gradual easing of financing costs without jeopardising macroeconomic stability.

Do not reverse reforms

CPPE warned that reversing the reforms would be profoundly damaging to the economy.

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“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,” CPPE said.

Mr Yusuf said the reform trajectory should therefore be sustained, while implementation is continuously refined in response to emerging realities.

“Reform instruments should be continuously recalibrated in response to evidence, implementation experience and their impact on businesses and households.

“The next phase must move decisively from stabilisation to productivity; from higher government revenues to better development outcomes; and from improving macroeconomic indicators to tangible gains in jobs, incomes and living standards,” CPPE said.