President of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), Leye Kupoluyi, said the economic growth reportedly achieved in 2025 showed very marginal improvement but did not lift income levels or reduce poverty in any meaningful way.
Reflecting over the 2025 economic year, he said it was marked by tough reforms, economic resilience and cautious stabilisation, characterised by modest growth recovery, constrained fiscal execution and serious concerns over debt sustainability.
While GDP growth strengthened relative to 2024, he noted, budget implementation reflected transition-related execution pressures while public debt dynamics continued to pose significant risks to fiscal resilience, particularly due to elevated debt-service obligations.
Adding that difficult adjustments followed the federal government’s reforms, he said, while the reforms imposed significant short-term pains on households and businesses, they also laid the foundation for restoring macroeconomic credibility, rebuilding investor confidence, and repositioning the economy for sustainable growth.
Pointing out that even though the average GDP growth of 3.78 per cent in the first three quarters of 2025 exceeded the 3.47 per cent recorded in 2024, the achievement remained below what is required to achieve faster development.
He listed rebasing of GDP, the consumer price index (CPI), Nigeria’s exit from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) grey list, and fiscal reforms, such as the signing of the tax reform act, as key issues defined last year.
He noted that the 2025 budget did not deliver the scale or quality of fiscal stimulus required to support economic recovery.
“Elevated food, transport and energy costs continued to erode household purchasing power and compress business margins, just as persistent FX volatility and Naira depreciation significantly increased import costs for raw materials and capital goods, complicating planning and weakening manufacturing and trade activities.
“Widespread insecurity, particularly in food-producing regions, disrupted supply chains, worsened food inflation, discouraged investment and undermined rural economic activity. Persistent power shortages, poor transportation networks, and logistics inefficiencies raised operating costs, forcing businesses to rely on expensive alternatives and limiting productivity. Furthermore, inconsistent policies, multiple taxation and regulatory unpredictability heightened uncertainty, constrained long-term investment decisions and weakened the ease of doing business,” he said.
Urging the government to decisively address the structural constraints that limited inclusive growth in 2025, he called for sustained coordination between fiscal and monetary authorities to entrench disinflation while gradually easing interest rates to unlock private sector credit and stimulate investment.
Special attention, he said, must be paid to food supply chains through improved security, targeted support for agriculture and better rural infrastructure.
“FX market confidence must be deepened by promoting export diversification, supporting non-oil exporters and sustaining transparent, market-driven FX policies. Government must prioritise infrastructure development, particularly power, transport and logistics to reduce the cost of doing business and enhance competitiveness,” he said.
