The Director-General of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), Dr Chinyere Almona, has expressed concern about the pace of reforms being implemented to tackle rising, acute poverty levels and structural transformation needed in the economy.
Presenting a private sector perspective on the recently released Nigeria Development Update (NDU) 2025 by the World Bank, which underscored the urgent need for Nigeria to accelerate economic reforms and tackle rising poverty levels; she reiterated that the time for decisive action is now if Nigeria is to reap the gains of the reforms and restore investor confidence, stimulate sustainable growth and improve living standards.
While noting that the government has taken some steps in fiscal and monetary policy management, she urged the regime to expedite reforms in some critical areas.
“Nigeria must prioritise massive investment in agricultural value chains, agro-processing, and rural infrastructure to enhance productivity and ensure food security. Reducing import dependence and supporting farmers with access to credit, inputs, and technology will help bring down food inflation and strengthen the naira.
“The high cost of electricity and fuel continues to cripple industries and small businesses. We urge urgent action to expand domestic energy generation, accelerate power sector reforms, and incentivise the adoption of renewable energy to make energy more affordable and reliable for manufacturers and households,” she stated.
She noted that the crisis of uncertainties and supply disruptions in the oil and gas sector is damaging and must be resolved. Adding that poor road networks and logistics inefficiencies continue to pose significant constraints to business mobility and national productivity, she said the government must prioritise the completion of ongoing road projects, particularly those connecting key economic corridors, industrial hubs, and ports to reduce transportation costs and enhance trade facilitation.
“Insecurity continues to undermine agricultural production, mining, tourism and investment across many regions. We call for a coordinated national security strategy that leverages more advanced surveillance technology, intelligence and local community collaboration to restore investor and consumer confidence.”
“Most importantly, the persistent high cost of governance continues to drain resources that could otherwise be allocated to support critical infrastructure, education and healthcare. LCCI urges the federal and sub-national governments to demonstrate leadership by cutting wasteful expenditures, rationalising agencies and improving fiscal transparency. With government revenues hitting record levels, citizens deserve better.”
She stressed that Nigeria’s path to shared prosperity depends on credible, consistent, and transparent policy execution. According to her, businesses and households require clarity, stability, and confidence in the country’s economic direction.
“We urge the government to focus on the core areas of producing and supplying more food, working on the dynamics of local refining capacity to lower energy costs, continue with the reforms in the FX market for sustained stability, cut down on governance costs, and re-energise the fight against insecurity through more funding and more use of advanced security technology and intelligence,” she said.
