Chairman, Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG), Olaniyi Yusuf has urged the Federal Government to translate economic reforms into tangible results, including job creation, increased productivity and improved living standards.

Yusuf made the call on Monday in Abuja at the 32nd Nigerian Economic Summit (NES32), themed “Growth That Works: Delivering Jobs, Productivity and Shared Prosperity”.

He said Nigeria’s economic reforms had created an opportunity to strengthen the foundations for socio-economic development, in spite of the pressures on households and businesses.

“Our responsibility now is to ensure that reforms translate into stronger enterprises, better jobs, more productive workers, rising incomes, improved living standards and shared prosperity,” Yusuf said.

He said recent measures, including petroleum subsidy removal, foreign exchange reforms, fiscal restructuring and banking sector reforms, were necessary to address economic distortions.

However, he said macroeconomic stabilisation alone would not automatically translate into broad-based economic growth or improved citizens’ welfare.

Yusuf said households needed decent jobs, stronger purchasing power, and improved security and reduced poverty, while businesses required lower production costs, reliable electricity and affordable financing.

According to him, Nigeria must sustain economic stabilisation while prioritising practical measures to improve productivity and expand economic opportunities.

He said the summit’s theme reflected the need to measure economic success by the quality of jobs created, business competitiveness and the extent to which prosperity reached Nigerians.

Yusuf identified productivity, human capital development and resilience as key priorities for achieving sustainable and inclusive economic growth.

He said investments in education, healthcare, nutrition and relevant skills would improve workers’ productivity and prepare young Nigerians for employment.

The NESG chairman also called for improved infrastructure, predictable regulations, fair competition and an efficient legal system to encourage private investment and business expansion.

Yusuf said Nigeria’s economic performance presented a mixed picture, with improvements in some macroeconomic indicators alongside persistent challenges affecting businesses and households.

He noted that real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew by 4.43 per cent year-on-year in the second quarter of 2026, compared with 3.89 per cent in the first quarter.

Yusuf, however, expressed concern over persistent food inflation, high production costs, unreliable electricity, expensive financing and inadequate infrastructure.

According to him, a slowdown in inflation does not necessarily mean that goods have become affordable, as households continue to grapple with elevated prices.

Yusuf urged policymakers to prioritise productive investments, effective public expenditure and measures to address poverty, food insecurity and gaps in access to essential services.

He also called for stronger links between education and employment through technical and vocational training, digital skills and industry relevant learning.

The NESG chairman identified agriculture, agro-processing, manufacturing, construction, tourism and digital services as sectors with opportunities to expand productive employment.

He said the private sector remained central to Nigeria’s economic transformation but required an enabling environment to invest, produce and create jobs.

Yusuf urged businesses to invest in technology, workforce skills, local supply chains and export competitiveness, while calling on the government to improve infrastructure and ensure regulatory predictability.

He emphasised the need to assess the actual impact of reforms rather than merely documenting policies introduced or activities undertaken.

Yusuf said commitments arising from the summit should include clear institutional responsibilities, realistic timelines, measurable indicators and periodic reviews to ensure accountability.

He called on the government, businesses, development partners and other stakeholders to work together to translate economic stability into investment, productivity, employment and shared prosperity.

Yusuf said the ultimate test of the summit would be whether its deliberations produced tangible improvements in the lives of farmers, manufacturers, entrepreneurs and young people seeking decent jobs.

He urged participants to develop practical solutions and measurable commitments that would continue to deliver results beyond the summit.

By Tony Obiechina, Abuja

The Development Bank of Nigeria Plc (DBN) has launched DAWN: DBN Action for Women in Nigeria, unveiled its Impact Report and presented MSME Data Assets at the seventh edition of Annual Lecture held in Abuja.

DBN, in a statement on Thursday, said while delivering a welcome address, its Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Dr Tony Okpanachi, said the central challenge was no longer reforms themselves but ensuring benefits reach businesses at end of the chain.

He asked how to make sure benefits reach traders in Onitsha, fabricator in Aba, farmer in Kebbi and young founder in Yaba, noting that MSMEs accounted  for about half of Nigeria’s GDP and more than eight in every ten jobs, adding that when reform works for MSMEs it works for most Nigerians.

He explained that reform becomes prosperity only when entrepreneurs can act on it whether through long tenor loans to buy equipment, banks willing to take risk or skills and records needed to grow.

He said working through Participating Financial Institutions DBN provides longer term funding, partial credit guarantees through subsidiary Impact Credit Guarantee Limited and capacity building including Entrepreneurship Training Programme.

He disclosed that as at December 2025 DBN had disbursed a cumulative N1.4 trillion to MSMEs through 84 Participating Financial Institutions creating about 1.6 million jobs nationwide.

Under the new five year strategy, the Bank aims to reach more than two million MSMEs with deliberate targets for women led businesses, youth led businesses and underserved states.

On DAWN, Okpanachi said finance alone had not enabled enough women-led businesses to scale.

He said initiative brings together financing, guarantees and credit support, technical assistance, outcome linked grants and market linkages delivered through banks, microfinance institutions, fintechs, aggregators, cooperatives and direct channels.

Its priority sectors are agriculture and exports, healthcare, arts and creatives, technology and green business.

He said DAWN is about moving gender focused lending beyond intention and turning access into opportunity.

On the sidelines of the lecture DBN and African Development Bank held a signing ceremony of AfDB DBN 61 million United States dollars Gender Line of Credit development that reinforces Bank commitment to women led enterprises.

Okpanachi urged Participating Financial Institutions to extend lending into sectors and states where access to finance has been limited, policymakers and regulators to measure reform by what changes for business at end of chain and MSMEs to formalise, keep good records and use support now available.

The Vice President as Special Guest of Honour was represented by Dr Fred Iklaga Senior Technical Adviser in the Office of Special Adviser to the President on Economy.

Keynote speakers were Chief Executive Officer of MTN Nigeria, Dr Karl Toriola, and Chairman of Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority, Dr Segun Ogunsanya.

Fireside chat featured Chief Executive Officer of Sterling Bank Abubakar Suleiman, manufacturing and trade entrepreneur Mrs Omoyemi Chukwurah and by video Kola Masha of Babban Gona.

The Secretary to the Government of Federation, represented by Augusta Warren Bekaredebo, said 2026 tax reforms would bring relief to many small businesses expressing optimism that a lot of businesses will be smiling by next year because they will be exempted from tax.

From Sylvia Udegbunam Enugu 

Governor of Enug State, Dr. Peter Mbah, has doubled down in his support for the removal of fuel subsidy by President Bola Tinubu’s administration, saying it was undebatable and inconceivable for anyone to imagine a return to the old order.

Mbah spoke at the “Meet the Candidates” town hall meeting organised by Afia TV in Enugu on Wednesday, where he also said that his administration had delivered good governance to the people of the state across all sectors.

He described it as a pathetic misconception of the country’s situation and the direction it was headed for anyone to talk about the reintroduction of fuel subsidy.

“If you reintroduce fuel subsidy today, we will lose ten times whatever we are currently trying to gain in terms of the removal of subsidy. The poverty rate that you are going to experience will be very high because the naira would be automatically devalued.

“We cannot go back to subsidy. And I do not think it is in the interest of the country for us to even debate that.

“Again, we should not even debate it because we do not want to send a signal to prospective investors that we are contemplating it. That would take us back. It is going to create panic in the system. It is going to get investors to pull back.

“Those that are coming in today to invest in that sector will become jittery. So, it is not even a subject to debate. It is something that we have moved on from, and we should be thinking about how to ensure that the natural benefits cascade to the households, create jobs and generate wealth for our people,” he said.

He said the nation should focus on how to further encourage private capital to flow, noting the growth the nation had experienced in the stock exchange space.

He added that Tinubu’s policies had stabilised the macro indicators, thus encouraging foreign direct investment.

“You can see quite a lot of funds coming into our country, not just portfolio investments, but also direct investments. It is also going to strengthen because the macro indicators are right,” he stated.

Mbah maintained that whereas fuel subsidy removal enables the government to target the less privileged, fuel subsidy as earlier practised benefited the rich more.

“By the way, I do not think the subsidy we practised before the President removed it was even the right one for the country because even the people we were looking at benefiting from it were only insignificantly benefiting from it. It was largely beneficial to our wealthy folks.

“But now, you can almost notice that the government is doing that in targeting the poor, using proceeds from subsidy removal. The government is aggressive on cash transfers. There is also the programme where the government is targeting 1,000 persons per ward across the entire country to be able to provide seed capital for them to become productive,” he added.

Meanwhile, on his stewardship so far, Mbah said his administration had kept faith with the people of Enugu State, delivering good governance across all sectors in line with his campaign manifesto.

He said the people of the state only needed to imagine where the state was before his inauguration as governor and where it is currently headed.

“Let us imagine the Enugu we knew four years ago. Let us just imagine an Enugu without Hotel Presidential. Let us imagine an Enugu without the International Conference Centre. Let us imagine an Enugu without Enugu Air. Let us imagine Enugu without the transport terminals, the 268 Smart Green Schools, 260 Type 2 Primary Healthcare Centres.

“You do not want them to imagine an Enugu without the International Hospital. You do not want them to imagine an Enugu without the CNG buses, the Nigergas. I think the list is endless.

“But I even think that we can stretch that imagination further because the work ahead will be more profound. Just imagine an Enugu where our children are receiving education that prepares them for the world because they have been imbued with evolving 21st-century skills. Imagine again an Enugu where you do not have any part of the city with an unpaved road.

“Also, imagine an Enugu in four years’ time that generates 660 megawatts of electricity; where we are able to provide 24-hour power supply; where you cannot come into your house and have the light off; and where people can run their businesses for a whole week without worrying about the cost of diesel. Just imagine an Enugu where you generate electricity and the people of Enugu are buying that at 120 naira because they own the coal that feeds the power plant.

“Imagine an Enugu where you now have to ride, not just on our CNG buses, but you have the monorail that can take you from point A to point B. Imagine an Enugu where you can fly from here to the United Kingdom, to the United States and other parts of the world,” he charged the electorate.

He urged the people to keep faith with the journey of greatness, growth and development, defending the gains of his first term and guaranteeing the promises of his second term by working for his re-election.

“If these imaginations capture our fancy, then we have a duty to fight for it. We do have a duty to continue to make sure that the bar does not come down and that the standard we have set in Enugu is sustained,” he concluded.