Prioritise agric, manufacturing to sustain growth, CPPE urges FG

The Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise has asked the Federal Government to prioritise interventions in agriculture and manufacturing to ease the cost-of-living pressures and ensure that Nigeria’s 3.98 per cent Gross Domestic Product growth in the third quarter of 2025 translates into real welfare gains for citizens, especially vulnerable groups.

In a policy brief on Nigeria’s third-quarter GDP performance, the Director of the CPPE, Dr Muda Yusuf, warned that without deliberate and sustained actions to address structural bottlenecks in agriculture, manufacturing, and trade, the country could struggle to convert its macroeconomic stability into broad-based economic relief.

The report stated that the cost-of-living crisis continued to undermine social welfare. Yusuf said, “The social outcomes of economic reforms continue to weigh on households,” and insisted that policymakers must “prioritise targeted interventions to address the uneasiness around the cost of living.”

He added that such interventions were essential to ensure that “macroeconomic stability translates into real improvements in citizens’ welfare, particularly for vulnerable groups.”

The organisation highlighted long-standing constraints across key sectors. It said agriculture, which grew by 3.79 per cent, remained constrained by insecurity, weak rural logistics, low mechanisation, and declining purchasing power. It also described manufacturing as “still fragile and under pressure,” with the sector growing by only 1.25 per cent.

According to the CPPE, manufacturers continue to face “high energy and logistics costs, costly borrowing conditions, dependence on imported industrial inputs, and smuggling of competing products.”

The group noted that while the services sector remained the dominant driver of growth, accounting for 53 per cent of output, trade growth remained slow and fragile at 1.98 per cent because of high import costs and weak consumer demand.

It also flagged the continued recession in the textile and apparel sector, which contracted by 2.41 per cent, and a 1.07 per cent contraction in the paper and pulp segment.

Meanwhile, the CPPE noted that the economy “grew by 3.98 per cent in real terms,” adding that although the figure “moderated slightly from the 4.3 per cent recorded in Q2,” it confirmed that the economy “remains firmly on a path of steady recovery and consolidation.”

CPPE stated that the latest data showed that the government’s ongoing reforms were stabilising the exchange rate, moderating inflation, improving fiscal conditions and gradually restoring investor confidence. It said these gains had boosted business sentiment and strengthened activity across major sectors.

However, the CPPE argued that easing cost pressures must become a central policy priority. The group said, “All tiers of government must sustain targeted interventions in agriculture, pharmaceuticals, transportation, and energy to fix the cost-of-living crisis.”

It emphasised that without such targeted support, citizens would struggle to feel the impact of current macroeconomic improvements.

The organisation recommended a set of actions to sustain Nigeria’s recovery. These include reducing structural bottlenecks, addressing energy supply constraints, cutting logistics costs, improving port efficiency and accelerating transport infrastructure.

It also called for stronger support for agricultural productivity through improved security in farming regions, expanded irrigation and storage, investment in rural roads and mechanisation.

The group urged the government to rebuild manufacturing competitiveness by expanding access to concessionary credit, curbing smuggling, reducing import duties on industrial inputs and easing supply chain pressures.

It added that reforms in land administration, deeper mortgage markets and affordable housing initiatives were needed to address worsening housing affordability. It asked for increased funding for education and health, and stronger governance in social services.