NES#32: FG to Explore Innovative Ideas for Jobs, Shared Prosperity Amid Reform Gains

• NESG laments unemployment, cost pressures, infrastructure gaps, insecurity, others

James Emejo in Abuja

Minister of State for Budget and Economic Planning, Dr. Doris Uzoka-Anite, has tasked stakeholders at the 32nd Nigerian Economic Summit (NES#32) to move beyond diagnosing the country’s economic problems and forge actionable solutions capable of creating opportunities and improving citizens’ welfare.

Uzoka-Anite spoke at a World Press Conference ahead of the summit in Abuja. She said the annual economic gathering must focus on identifying solutions, building consensus, and defining practical pathways towards an economy that delivered broader prosperity following recent macroeconomic success in the country.

The minister said the summit, which had evolved into a major platform bringing together government, the private sector, labour, academia, development partners, and civil society, should ultimately be judged by the extent to which its recommendations translated into measurable economic outcomes.

She said, “The 32nd summit will therefore not be simply about discussing Nigeria’s economic challenges. It will be about identifying solutions, building consensus and defining actionable pathways towards an economy that creates opportunities and improves the welfare of our citizens.”

Summit Targets Growth That Works

This year’s summit, with the theme, “Growth that Works: Delivering Jobs, Productivity and Shared Prosperity,” is scheduled for October 26–27 in Abuja.

According to the minister, the theme reflects the central economic challenge of ensuring that growth translates into productive employment, higher incomes, improved living standards, and wider prosperity.

The summit will be structured around three strategic pillars — productivity, human capital and resilience — alongside cross-cutting issues, including digital transformation, political economy, transparency and accountability, and macroeconomic stability.

Its five major thematic areas include Work Nigeria, Produce Nigeria, Invest Nigeria, Scale Nigeria, and Secure Nigeria.

Work Nigeria will focus on expanding productive employment and linking education and skills development to economic opportunities; Produce Nigeria will address productivity, industrialisation and value addition; while Invest Nigeria will examine how to attract capital and strengthen human capital.

Scale Nigeria will focus on unlocking the economic potential of states and sub-national governments, while Secure Nigeria will examine the relationship between security, economic resilience, production, and investment.

Uzoka-Anite said the summit would seek to unlock opportunities in agriculture, manufacturing, infrastructure, and the digital economy, while raising competitiveness through better infrastructure, innovation, skills and regulatory efficiency.

Building on NES#31 Outcomes

Uzoka-Anite said the summit would also build on recommendations from NES#31, stating that several proposals contained in its Green Book have already found expression in government policies and programmes.

She cited ongoing work on the National Development Plan 2026–2030, alignment of development planning with annual budgets, and results-based monitoring under HOPE-GOV.

On industrialisation, she said the Nigeria Industrial Policy launched in February 2026 prioritised agro-processing, petrochemicals, pharmaceuticals, textiles and technology-driven industries.

The minister added that government had also signed an agreement with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) to develop a pipeline of bankable public-private partnership projects in transport, energy, ICT, and sanitation, while the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC) had reported over 97 PPP projects valued over N9 trillion.

NESG: Growth Must Produce Jobs

In his remarks, Chief Executive, Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG), Dr. Tayo Adeloju, said recent reforms, including subsidy removal, exchange-rate unification, fiscal restructuring, and bank recapitalisation, had helped restore macroeconomic discipline, strengthen external buffers, and improve investor confidence.

However, he warned that stabilisation alone was insufficient.

“Stabilisation is necessary; it is not sufficient,” Adeloju said, stressing the need to establish a stronger transmission from reforms to investment, productivity, jobs, and, ultimately, shared prosperity.

He identified high production costs, infrastructure deficits, low productivity, and insecurity as persistent constraints, stating that over 90 per cent of employment remains informal.

He said, “The task is not to grow faster, but to grow differently — raising productivity and creating jobs at scale.”

Adeloju said Nigeria’s large market, natural resources, youthful population, and position within the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) offered significant opportunities amid a fragmenting global economy.

He warned that those advantages would only translate into growth if the country could produce competitively and attract productive capital.

He said NES#32 was designed to ask not only what needed to change, but who must act, what it would take to deliver, and how success would be measured.

According to him, the summit’s ultimate objective is to move Nigeria from stability to investment, investment to productivity, productivity to jobs, and jobs to shared prosperity.

He urged the media and other stakeholders to scrutinise the commitments emerging from the summit, insisting that its success should not be measured by attendance but by better policies, stronger businesses and improved livelihoods.

According to him, the challenge facing the economy is no longer simply achieving macroeconomic stability but converting reforms into productive investment and mass employment.

Adeloju said, “This is urgent: Nigeria still faces high production costs, infrastructure deficits, low productivity and insecurity, with over 90 percent of employment informal.

“The task is not to grow faster, but to grow differently — raising productivity and creating jobs at scale.

“A fragmenting global economy brings both risk and opportunity. Nigeria’s large market, resources, youthful population and position within AfCFTA give it real advantages — but only if we can produce efficiently and attract productive capital.”