The Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise (CPPE) has commended President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for successfully rescuing Nigeria’s economy from the brink of collapse.

In a detailed assessment of the President Tinubu’s three years in office, the CPPE Chief Executive Officer Dr. Muda Yusuf emphasized that any fair appraisal must acknowledge the severe macroeconomic, fiscal, and foreign exchange vulnerabilities that gripped the nation in 2023.

At inception, the administration inherited an economy approaching a tipping point, characterized by acute illiquidity in the foreign exchange market, net external reserves that had reportedly plummeted below $5 billion, and an entrenched reliance on Ways and Means monetary financing.

He noted that the fuel subsidy regime had evolved into a massive channel of fiscal leakage and economic distortion.

Faced with these compounding pressures, the Tinubu administration embarked on two transformative but painful pillars of reform: the removal of the fuel subsidy and the unification of the exchange rate.

The CPPE noted that the fuel subsidy removal successfully halted a significant fiscal hemorrhage and established a more transparent downstream petroleum sector.

Meanwhile, the exchange rate unification improved price discovery, curbed pervasive arbitrage opportunities, and restored credibility to Nigeria’s foreign exchange framework.

These structural shifts came with immense adjustment costs for the Nigerian populace. The immediate aftermath triggered severe inflationary shocks, escalating energy and logistics costs, and a sharp depreciation of the naira that worsened the domestic cost-of-living crisis. Real incomes declined and poverty conditions worsened, presenting the government with its most formidable social challenge.

Despite these intense adjustment pains, the CPPE report highlights substantial evidence of macroeconomic recovery, validating the administration’s rescue efforts. Gross external reserves are now rebounding toward the $50 billion threshold, the balance of trade has maintained a steady surplus, and exchange rate volatility has moderated significantly since 2025. The economy notably achieved eleven consecutive months of disinflation from early 2025 through February 2026. Although this downward trajectory was temporarily disrupted in March 2026 by domestic cost shocks reignited by the geopolitical Iran–U.S.–Israel conflict, underlying stabilization remains visible.

The capital market has also reflected resurgent investor confidence. The NGX All Share Index skyrocketed from approximately 55,700 points in 2023 to over 254,000 points in 2026, a staggering expansion of over 350 percent while market capitalization jumped from ₦30 trillion to more than ₦160 trillion.

This market resilience is further supported by improved monetary discipline from the discontinuation of Ways and Means financing and the emergence of domestic refining capacity, led by the Dangote Refinery, which has enhanced national energy security and foreign exchange conservation.

While praising the administration for steering the economy away from structural collapse, Dr. Yusuf cautioned that the administration still faces an extensive, unfinished reform agenda.

The most pressing issue remains the fact that macroeconomic stabilization has yet to translate into broad-based welfare gains, as purchasing power remains weak and consumer confidence is fragile.

The CPPE stressed that the challenge before the administration is no longer merely one of stabilization, but the imperative of converting reform gains into actual jobs and a better quality of life.

Persistent insecurity stands out as another major threat to sustained economic recovery, continuing to hamper agriculture, disrupt rural livelihoods, and jeopardize national food security. Simultaneously, the productive sector is weighed down by structural constraints, including high interest rates, logistics bottlenecks, and a struggling power sector that remains one of the most binding limitations on industrial competitiveness.

Fiscal sustainability also presents a lingering risk. The public debt profile expanded significantly to ₦159.3 trillion as of December 2025. This surge is attributed to the sharp depreciation of the naira, which inflated the domestic value of external debt, combined with the securitization of the legacy ₦23 trillion Ways and Means liabilities.

The CPPE expressed optimism that oncoming tax reforms will enhance the federal government’s fiscal capacity to mitigate these debt sustainability pressures.

Looking to the future, the CPPE underscores that the long-term viability of these economic reforms rests on governance, fiscal prudence, and the principle of shared sacrifice.

The think tank concluded that while the first three years successfully rescued the economy from the brink, the next phase of the Tinubu presidency must aggressively focus on converting these macroeconomic milestones into inclusive prosperity for all Nigerians.