•37.5% Nigerians report salary increase, report insists
Nigeria must position itself as a leader in the emerging quantum African economy to avoid being left behind in the global economic transformation, the Director-General of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Dr Emomotimi Agama, has said.
Speaking at the Comercio Partners H2 2025 Economic Outlook in Lagos, Agama warned that the world is at a pivotal juncture where rapid technological advancements are reshaping traditional paradigms of global trade and finance.
At the summit, Comercio also released a broad-based report on the state of the economy, detailing the impact of the reform on the well-being of Nigerians.
A key finding of the report was that over 83 per cent of Nigerians find it difficult to fund food, housing and healthcare.
“A substantial majority of respondents (94.3 per cent) reported an increase in prices of regularly purchased goods and services, with 72.5 per cent experiencing significant hikes. Contrastingly, income changes have not kept pace, as only a few respondents reported increased salaries, while 48.2% reported no change and 14.3 per cent reported salary decreases.
“Increased economic pressures have notably impacted the affordability of necessities, with 83 per cent, indicating greater difficulty in affording food, housing, and healthcare compared to the previous year,” the report said.
The summit, themed, ‘Reconfiguration: From Global Trade to Quantum Innovation – A New Economic Era Emerges’, brought together economists and other professionals to discuss Nigeria’s economic trajectory.
“The rise of digital economies, decentralised finance (DeFi), and quantum technologies signals a new era where intellectual capital and technological prowess will define competitive advantage,” Agama said in his keynote.
He emphasised that quantum innovation, encompassing quantum computing, cryptography and communication, promises to revolutionise industries, from finance to healthcare, with the potential to redefine risk modelling, asset pricing and fraud detection in capital markets.
“To thrive in this new era, we must adapt our regulatory frameworks, invest in cutting-edge research and collaborate across borders and sectors,” he said.
He highlighted SEC Nigeria’s ongoing engagements with fintech startups, blockchain firms and researchers to create a regulatory environment that encourages innovation while protecting investors.
Agama also outlined three key areas for Nigeria’s quantum economy preparation – regulatory agility through engagement with fintech startups and blockchain innovators, investment in STEM education and digital skills, as well as public-private partnerships for research and development funding.
“Africa, with its youthful population and untapped potential, can leapfrog into the quantum economy by leveraging blockchain for transparent capital markets, adopting AI and big data to enhance financial inclusion and creating innovation sandboxes to test emerging technologies,” he said.
The SEC DG emphasised that Nigeria, as Africa’s largest economy, must lead the continental charge toward technological transformation, with the commission exploring policies to support tokenised assets, digital securities and green bonds.
The summit’s panel emphasised the importance of the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) recapitalisation for achieving the $1 trillion output target by 2030.
The Head, Business Development Division, FMDQ Group, Jumoke Olaniyan, described the recapitalisation as vital for creating a financial system capable of absorbing the scale of transactions required for the trillion-dollar economy target.
“We need financial institutions that are financially stable to be able to absorb the kind of risk that comes with the multiplicity of growth that we want to achieve,” she said.
However, she cautioned that additional reforms in identity management, legal certainty and asset collateral management would be necessary to ensure the banking sector effectively serves small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
Chief Executive Officer of the Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise (CPPE), Dr Muda Yusuf, acknowledged that Nigeria’s recent economic reforms, including fuel subsidy removal and exchange rate unification, have made remarkable progress in correcting fundamental distortions in the economy.
He highlighted a major disconnect between macroeconomic achievements and their impact on citizens’ lives, describing it as a major issue that the government is struggling with.
Yusuf criticised the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) position on the economic reforms, arguing that the institution is not sensitive to the social consequences of policy.
“It is important for us as a country to localise whatever policies we are adopting because every economy has its technical realities,” he said, advocating policies that address market failures and protect vulnerable populations.
On his part, President of Nigerian Association of Macroeconomic Modellers, Prof. Philip Alege, warned that Nigeria’s economic challenges stem from over-concentration on the banking sector rather than production and export, a challenge that dates back to the Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) era.
The summit also examined the creative sector’s contribution to job creation, with industry leader Femi Adebayo revealing that the entertainment industry currently employs 4.2 million Nigerians and is projected to add 2.7 million more jobs by year-end.
