As Nigeria marks its 66th independence anniversary, the Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise (CPPE) has urged the Nigerian federal and state governments to transition its economic focus from macroeconomic stabilisation to an aggressive productivity-led agenda.
While acknowledging positive macroeconomic indicators such as rising real GDP growth and easing inflation, the policy think tank in a statement by its Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Muda Yusuf stressed that these gains have yet to meaningfully lower the cost of living for households or reduce high operational overheads for businesses.
At the core of the CPPE’s position is an urgent appeal to prioritize structural constraints in agriculture and power supply.
The centre noted that Nigeria has diversified what it produces more than what it exports, leaving millions of farmers plagued by low yields, post-harvest losses, and insecure transit corridors.
To reverse this, the think tank emphasized that agricultural clusters need targeted interventions including reliable rural security, functional irrigation, modern storage, and accessible feeder roads so that staple food crops can efficiently reach markets rather than rotting on farms.
The CPPE also underscored that industrial and agricultural processing clusters remain severely constrained by costly power and inefficient logistics.
The organisation called for deliberate policy execution to resolve electricity bottlenecks directly impacting production hubs, arguing that manufacturers and agro-allied industries cannot compete globally under heavy energy burdens.
It also recommended that public support and industrial incentives be strictly tied to measurable metrics like investment, operational efficiency, and export performance.
The CPPE also noted that all three tiers of government must align their functions with the federal government securing macro-stability and major transport corridors, while state and local governments fix community feeder roads, improve land administration, and dismantle arbitrary levies that suffocate small enterprises.