CPPE tells FG: Turn macroeconomic gains into household welfare

The Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise (CPPE) says the economic gains recorded under President Bola Tinubu's reform programme have not yet translated into better living conditions for ordinary Nigerians. CPPE Chief Executive Officer, Dr Muda Yusuf, made the position clear in a statement to Legit.ng, urging the federal government to convert stabilisation wins into visible welfare improvements.

Yusuf acknowledged improvements in key economic indicators, including government revenues, foreign exchange market stability, external reserves, trade surplus and investor confidence. He, however, said the benefits of macroeconomic stabilisation had not sufficiently reached households and businesses still facing high costs and weak purchasing power.

Reforms are a means, not an end

According to Yusuf, Nigeria's real Gross Domestic Product growth rose to 3.89% in the first quarter of 2026, compared with 3.13% in the corresponding period of 2025. He described the growth as an important foundation for investment and economic expansion but stressed that macroeconomic stability should ultimately translate into better welfare for citizens.

"Macroeconomic stability is a means, not an end," he said. He added that the real test of the reforms was whether they would deliver higher productivity, stronger investment, more jobs, lower poverty and improved living standards. Yusuf said the link between macroeconomic improvement and real-world welfare remained broken.

Businesses still face high costs

Purchasing power is still weak, he noted, while businesses continue to struggle with high energy costs, expensive financing, logistics burdens and heavy regulatory demands. He flagged electricity as one of several structural constraints holding back growth. The sector contracted by 15.3% in the first quarter of 2026, a worrying drop even as manufacturing grew by 3.29% and agriculture expanded by 3.15% over the same period.

He said addressing high structural costs across logistics, insecurity, infrastructure and capital access would be essential to accelerating growth in productive sectors. The CPPE also called for trade policies that protect domestic industries and farmers while keeping competitive access open to inputs not readily available locally.

State governments must deliver

Yusuf called for the next phase of the reforms to shift focus towards productivity, competitiveness and household welfare. He urged state governments to ensure that higher revenues produce visible improvements in roads, healthcare, education, public transportation, agricultural infrastructure, security, power supply and support for small enterprises.

"Higher revenues must produce a visible development and welfare dividend," the CPPE said.

Don't reverse course

On the question of reform continuity, Yusuf warned that reversing course would damage the economy by shaking investor confidence, weakening fiscal stability and destabilising the foreign exchange market. He urged the government to maintain its reform direction while adjusting policies based on evidence and real-world impact on businesses and households.

He also called for tighter coordination between fiscal and monetary authorities to gradually ease financing costs as inflation comes down, without putting macroeconomic stability at risk. Yusuf said the reform programme must now move from stabilisation towards productivity, from higher revenues to better development outcomes, and from improved indicators to tangible gains in jobs, incomes and living standards.

The warning comes as the International Monetary Fund retained Nigeria's economic growth forecast steady at 4.1% for 2026 and 4.3% for 2027, signalling continued confidence in the country's reform trajectory even as global risks intensify. The figures appear in the IMF's July 2026 World Economic Outlook Update, titled "Global Economy in Crosscurrents of War and Technology," and are unchanged from the projections the fund published in April 2026. The report attributes Nigeria's resilient outlook to stronger macroeconomic stability.

For households and businesses, the message is direct: stability has been achieved on paper, but relief will only come when cheaper energy, easier financing and better public services show up in daily life.