The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) has called on the Federal Government to accelerate the pace of ongoing economic reforms to address rising poverty, restore investor confidence, and stimulate sustainable growth, following the release of the World Bank’s Nigeria Development Update (NDU) 2025.
Its Director-General, Dr Chinyere Almona, expressed deep concern over the growing poverty rate affecting over 133 million Nigerians and emphasised that the time for decisive action is now if the nation is to reverse current economic headwinds.
The LCCI said while government initiatives in fiscal and monetary management are commendable, the pace and depth of reform implementation remain inadequate to achieve the desired structural transformation.
According to the Chamber, Nigeria must prioritise massive investments in agricultural value chains, agro-processing, and rural infrastructure to boost productivity and ensure food security.
It stated that reducing import dependence, improving farmers’ access to credit and technology, and expanding local production capacity would help tame food inflation and strengthen the naira.
The LCCI also raised concerns over the high cost of energy, describing it as a major constraint to business competitiveness and industrial growth.
It urged the government to expand domestic energy generation, fast-track power sector reforms, and incentivise renewable energy adoption to make electricity more reliable and affordable for manufacturers and households.
It added that the persistent crisis of supply disruptions in the oil and gas sector must be addressed through stronger regulatory oversight and strict adherence to industry codes of conduct.
On infrastructure, the Chamber noted that poor road networks and logistics inefficiencies continue to erode national productivity and increase the cost of doing business.
It therefore called on the government to prioritise the completion of key road projects connecting industrial hubs, ports, and economic corridors to improve mobility and trade facilitation.
The Chamber further emphasised that insecurity across several regions continues to disrupt agricultural production, mining, tourism, and private investment.
It urged the government to adopt a coordinated national security strategy that leverages advanced surveillance technology, intelligence sharing, and local community participation to restore investor and consumer confidence.
Almona also decried the persistently high cost of governance, which she said drains scarce public resources that could otherwise be invested in infrastructure, education, and healthcare.
She urged both federal and state governments to demonstrate fiscal discipline by cutting wasteful expenditure, rationalising agencies, and improving transparency in the management of public funds.
While acknowledging the government’s efforts in stabilising the macroeconomic environment, the LCCI reiterated that Nigeria’s path to shared prosperity depends on credible, consistent, and transparent policy execution.
It stressed that the private sector and households require clarity, stability, and confidence in the country’s economic direction to make long-term investment decisions.
Expressing cautious optimism about ongoing reforms, the Chamber called on policymakers to focus on boosting local food production, enhancing local refining capacity to reduce energy costs, sustaining foreign exchange market reforms for stability, cutting the cost of governance, and strengthening the fight against insecurity through better funding and modern technology.
The LCCI’s intervention aligns with the World Bank’s latest assessment, which projects Nigeria’s economy to grow modestly by 3.5 per cent in 2025 amid persistent inflation and fiscal pressures.
The Chamber maintained that only through accelerated and coordinated reforms can the government lift millions out of poverty and set the economy on a sustainable growth trajectory.
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