The Federal Government has for the first time given a detailed plan of how it intends to grow Nigeria’s economy from about $290 billion in 2025 to $1.027 trillion by 2030, create nearly six million jobs annually and reduce the poverty rate from 63 per cent to 25 per cent under its new national development plan.
The targets were contained in a presentation by the Minister of State for Budget and Economic Planning, Dr Doris Uzoka-Anite, setting out how President Bola Tinubu’s administration intends to achieve its $1 trillion economy ambition by 2030.
The presentation is the first detailed account of how the administration plans to pursue the target, explaining the economic growth rates, investment levels, revenue improvements, job creation, and poverty-reduction measures expected to support the plan.
Under the projections, the government expects annual real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth to rise from 3.87 per cent to 10.34 per cent by 2030. Gross capital formation, which measures investment in productive assets such as machinery, factories and infrastructure, is expected to increase from 29 per cent to 40 per cent of GDP.
The plan also aims to raise government revenue from 11.15 per cent to 18.7 per cent of GDP and increase the annual number of jobs created from 3.14 million to 5.93 million.
These targets are part of the National Development Plan 2026–2030, which aims to translate the administration’s Renewed Hope Agenda into measurable economic and social outcomes over the next five years.
A major part of the government’s strategy is to mobilise more private investment, as public funds alone cannot provide the financing needed to achieve the envisaged scale of growth.
To address this challenge, the administration plans to establish a national development finance and capital mobilisation platform that will connect investors with properly prepared and commercially viable projects across the country.
The proposed platform is expected to bring together pension funds, insurance companies, domestic and foreign investors, development finance institutions and other sources of long-term capital.
The government believes the arrangement will help close the gap between the large amounts of money available for investment and the shortage of projects that are sufficiently prepared to attract such funds.
Many development projects, particularly those proposed by government institutions and subnational authorities, struggle to secure financing because their preparation is incomplete, their commercial structure is weak, or their expected returns and risks are not clearly defined.
The proposed platform is intended to address these problems by helping project promoters prepare viable proposals, structure financing arrangements, and attract investors.
It will also seek to address the fragmentation of projects across different levels of government. Rather than leaving small projects scattered across states and local governments to compete individually for financing, the platform could help them access investment opportunities that attract larger pools of capital.
The plan envisages support from development finance institutions and partners through guarantees, risk-sharing arrangements, blended finance and concessional funding. Such measures could reduce some of the risks private investors face and make projects more attractive for long-term investment.
The government’s approach is built on preparing projects properly, structuring them to meet investors’ requirements, and mobilising the money needed to deliver them.
The strategy reflects the administration’s position that achieving a $1 trillion economy will require much more than government spending. Private businesses and investors will have to finance a substantial share of the factories, infrastructure, technology and other productive assets needed to expand the economy.
The development plan places greater industrial production, economic diversification and job creation at the centre of the government’s growth ambitions.
Manufacturing currently accounts for about 8.47 per cent of GDP under the plan’s baseline figures. The government wants to increase this contribution to between 10.2 per cent and 15 per cent by 2030.
Achieving this will require stronger domestic production, better access to finance, more reliable electricity and improved transport and logistics infrastructure. It will also depend on businesses being able to obtain the raw materials, technology and skilled workers needed to expand production.
The government intends to support agriculture and its value chains, manufacturing, micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, exports and other productive sectors that can create jobs and generate income.
Increasing domestic processing and production is expected to reduce dependence on imported goods, strengthen local industries and create more opportunities for Nigerian businesses to supply both domestic and foreign markets.
The plan also seeks to expand non-oil exports and reduce the economy’s dependence on crude oil. Greater value addition in agriculture, energy, and other sectors is expected to broaden sources of national income and make the economy less vulnerable to external shocks.
The revenue target is another major part of the strategy. The government wants revenue to rise from 11.15 per cent of GDP to 18.7 per cent by 2030, providing more resources to finance public services and development projects.
However, the plan’s success will depend not only on raising revenue but also on how effectively the money is spent. The administration wants government budgets and spending to be more closely linked to projects that improve productivity, expand economic activity, and deliver measurable results.
