The 32nd Nigerian Economic Summit opened in Abuja on 26 October with a mood that was less celebratory and more clear-eyed. Policymakers and business leaders gathered under the theme "Growth that Works: Delivering Jobs, Productivity and Shared Prosperity," and the message from the room was consistent: the reforms have been done, now show the receipts.
Outgoing NESG chairman Olaniyi Yusuf gave credit where it was due, acknowledging the Tinubu administration's moves on petrol subsidy removal, foreign-exchange liberalisation, tax overhaul and bank recapitalisation. But he was careful to draw a line between stabilisation and actual progress. A steadier naira, he said plainly, does not by itself make a manufacturer competitive.
Some of the headline numbers do offer reason for cautious optimism. Real GDP grew 4.43% year on year in the second quarter, up from 3.89% in the first. Headline inflation eased to 14.63% in September, down from 34.8% in 2024. Gross external reserves sit at around US$55.1 billion. Nigeria has also attracted roughly US$23.2 billion in inflows so far this year, though Yusuf noted that portfolio investment dominates and foreign direct investment remains a small slice of that figure.
The harder truths were not glossed over. Food inflation held at 19.59% in September, meaning prices are still climbing from levels that already stretch household budgets thin. Electricity and gas output contracted by about 11.6% in the first half of 2026, with power generation falling from 5,400MW to 4,454MW. Maximum lending rates hovered around 29.2% in August, and private-sector credit has slipped to 18.1% of GDP. Public debt stood at 166.79 trillion naira as of June, with debt servicing consuming roughly half of federal revenue.
The summit, which has run continuously since 1993 and is billed as Africa's longest-running public-private dialogue, has never lacked for frank conversation. Whether this edition produces the kind of concrete follow-through its theme promises is the question that will linger well beyond the two days in Abuja.
Originally published by African Business.