For over thirty years, the Nigerian Economic Summit (NES) has remained committed to leading government and private sector leaders in conversations around how Nigeria can translate its GDP expansion into the dignified, sustainable employment that millions of young Nigerians desperately need and policies into sustainable economic transformation. In this interview with John Osadolor, NESG chief executive officer, Tayo Adeloju, speaks on expected deliverables from the 2026 NESG conference with the theme: “Growth that Works: Delivering Jobs, Productivity, and Shared Prosperity.”
What unique outcomes should Nigerians expect from this year’s Summit?
The 32nd Nigerian Economic Summit represents a defining transition in Nigeria’s reform journey: from stabilising the economy to making the economy work for Nigerians. Our theme, “Growth that Works: Delivering Jobs, Productivity, and Shared Prosperity,” reflects a fundamental proposition: macroeconomic stabilisation is necessary, but it is not sufficient. Economic reform must ultimately be judged by its capacity to expand productive opportunities, create decent jobs, raise household incomes and reduce poverty.
The critical question is no longer simply whether Nigeria is reforming. It is whether those reforms are transforming the underlying institutions, incentives and structural conditions that determine whether Nigerians can produce, invest, compete and prosper. At NES#32, we want to advance the foundations of a New Economic Accord for Nigeria—a renewed compact among government, business, labour, civil society and citizens, built around shared responsibilities, reciprocal commitments and measurable developmental outcomes.
This Accord must recognise that government has a responsibility to provide security, infrastructure, policy predictability and effective institutions; businesses must invest, innovate, create productive employment and strengthen domestic value chains; while other stakeholders contribute to human-capital development, social accountability and institutional trust.
Our five interconnected priorities—Work Nigeria, Produce Nigeria, Invest Nigeria, Scale Nigeria and Secure Nigeria—provide a practical architecture for translating this ambition into action, anchored in productivity, human capital and resilience.
We intend to connect national reform priorities with subnational implementation, regional production corridors, enterprise competitiveness and measurable improvements in citizens’ economic lives. We also expect the Summit to contribute actionable priorities to Nigeria’s 2026–2030 national development planning process.
Ultimately, the unique outcome we seek is a shift from policy consensus to implementation accountability, and from macroeconomic recovery to broad-based economic transformation.
The success of NES#32 will not be measured by the prominence of its participants or the number of recommendations adopted, but by the credibility of the commitments made, the institutions mobilised to deliver them, and the prosperity Nigerians ultimately experience.
Is NESG looking to establish a multi-stakeholder scorecard for Summit commitments?
Yes. Accountability must be integral to the Summit process. One lesson from Nigeria’s reform history is that good policies do not implement themselves. Between policy consensus and development outcomes lie institutions, incentives, financing, administrative capacity and political commitment.
Our review of commitments and progress across previous Summit editions, supported by institutional impact-assessment work, provides a foundation for a stronger accountability framework. Such a scorecard should distinguish policy adoption from implementation, and implementation from impact. It should identify commitments, responsible institutions, timelines, milestones and independently verifiable outcomes, including responsibilities shared by government and the private sector.
We must ask not only whether a reform was announced, but whether it reduced transaction costs, changed investment behaviour, improved public services or expanded opportunity. Accountability must move from tracking promises to verifying progress—and from activities to demonstrated impact.
What are the traceable impacts of the Summits on Nigeria?
The Summit’s enduring contribution has been to institutionalise structured government–business dialogue as part of national economic governance. Across three decades, it has offered a platform for advocacy, consensus-building and engagement on telecommunications liberalisation, pension reform, financial-sector development, port reform and the investment environment. These reforms are a significant outcome of Summit deliberations.
However, we should be disciplined about attribution. Major national reforms are collective achievements involving political leadership, public institutions, businesses and civil society. NESG’s contribution is best evaluated through evidence of its convening influence, policy proposals, sustained advocacy and engagement with implementing institutions.
We must also distinguish market liberalisation from productive transformation. Opening markets can expand investment, but enduring prosperity requires competition, domestic capabilities, effective regulation and institutional learning. Our historical contribution is helping Nigeria reform its economy; our next responsibility is helping those reforms deliver shared prosperity.
How can investment into MSMEs be accelerated?
The MSME financing challenge is not simply a shortage of credit. It is also a consequence of unreliable power, insecurity, weak infrastructure, fragmented markets, costly logistics and regulatory uncertainty. These conditions suppress productivity and make enterprises appear riskier to investors. More lending without correcting them can increase debt without creating sustainable growth.
We need an integrated strategy that reduces operating risks, strengthens enterprise capabilities and mobilises suitable capital. Productive clusters should provide shared power, logistics and market access. Enterprise support should improve financial records, technology adoption, product quality and access to procurement. Financing should then be differentiated: working capital for microenterprises, patient debt and equity for scaling firms, venture capital for innovation and structured development finance for industrial clusters.
Formalisation should follow improved enterprise viability, not become another burden on vulnerable businesses. The objective is to move enterprises from survival to productivity, from productivity to scale, and from scale to competitiveness.
How do you think Nigeria can sustainably close its human-capital investment gap?
Nigeria’s human-capital challenge is not only that investment is inadequate; too often, institutions fail to convert spending into learning, health, employability and livelihoods. A classroom does not automatically produce learning, a training programme does not automatically create employment, and a budget allocation does not automatically deliver healthcare.
Our HCD 2.0 agenda connects health and nutrition; education and skills; labour-force participation and livelihoods; and innovation and research commercialisation. Priorities include foundational learning, primary healthcare, demand-led technical education, effective school-to-work pathways and removal of barriers that constrain women, young people and disadvantaged communities.
Funding must be tied to delivery quality and outcomes, with coordinated federal, state, employer and institutional responsibilities. Human capital is not merely social expenditure: it is a nation’s productive capability. Demography becomes a dividend only when people can convert their abilities into genuine economic opportunity.
How can MSMEs compete under AfCFTA without Nigeria becoming a dumping ground?
Continental market access alone does not confer competitiveness. The real question is whether Nigerian enterprises can consistently produce goods and services that meet standards at competitive cost and scale. Export readiness starts with reliable energy, technology, certification, affordable logistics, finance and dependable delivery.
Nigeria needs a coordinated production-and-export strategy, not trade facilitation in isolation. Competitive value chains in agro-processing, light manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, creative industries and tradable services must connect with export certification, trade intelligence, efficient border procedures and regional corridors. States can anchor specialised clusters around their comparative advantages.
Concerns about dumping warrant effective customs administration, rules-of-origin enforcement, standards and lawful trade remedies. Yet protection without productivity risks perpetuating inefficiency. Our strongest defence is to become a competitive production and export powerhouse. AfCFTA must transform Nigeria’s productive structure, not merely increase transactions.
Which reforms will attract sustainable foreign investment?
Long-term investors require more than policy announcements: they need predictability, security, enforceable contracts, capable institutions and commercial opportunity. We must distinguish volatile portfolio flows from patient investment that expands productive capacity, transfers technology, strengthens supply chains and creates jobs.
Macroeconomic stability matters, but investors also weigh regulatory consistency, taxation, power reliability, foreign-exchange access, commercial dispute resolution and the security of assets and transport routes. These constraints reinforce one another. A manufacturer cannot indefinitely offset unreliable electricity, insecure corridors and arbitrary administrative decisions.
Priorities include coordinated macroeconomic policy, regulatory simplification, credible dispute resolution, bankable infrastructure and targeted investment facilitation. Domestic firms must also be equipped to supply and partner with international investors. Success is not measured only by how much capital enters Nigeria, but by the productive capacity, technological capability and sustainable employment it leaves behind.
How should government address concerns about foreign traders displacing local retailers?
This is not a binary choice between protecting Nigerians and welcoming foreign investment. A developmental economy must do both through coherent, lawful and evidence-based policy. We should distinguish investment that creates productive linkages from substantiated unfair trading, regulatory evasion or practices that harm vulnerable enterprises.
Domestic retailers often confront expensive logistics, limited capital, weak bargaining power and inadequate business support. Nationality alone does not explain these disadvantages, and indiscriminate restrictions will not correct them. Government should enforce applicable investment, immigration, tax, competition and sector-specific rules consistently, while investigating credible complaints.
At the same time, indigenous retailers need stronger wholesale distribution, digital commerce, affordable finance, shared infrastructure and enterprise support. Foreign investment should be encouraged to develop local supply chains, domestic manufacturing and meaningful partnerships. Any participation or local-content measures must be legally sound and transparent. Nigeria must remain open to investment, but openness must build domestic capabilities, fair competition and shared prosperity.
Related News
