The Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG), has lamented that despite being one of Africa’s most resource-endowed nations, Nigeria continues to squander its potential.
Ayanyinka Ayanlowo, Head of Strategic Communication and Advocacy, said this in a statement ahead of the group’s
32nd Nigerian Economic Summit (NES #32), which will focus on unlocking Nigeria’s productive potential and developing a concrete blueprint for the country’s transition from a primary commodity exporter to a high-value industrial powerhouse.
The Summit, with the theme, ‘Growth that Works: Delivering Jobs, Productivity and Shared Prosperity’, will hold on 26 and 27 October 2026 at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja.
“Our growth remains dangerously dependent on commodity price cycles because we export raw materials and import value,” the statement decried.
She said the burden of this reality will be central to discussions at the 32nd Nigerian Economic Summit, where stakeholders must confront an urgent question:
“How do we transition to a high-value industrial hub? And what must government, business, and investors do to make that transition possible?”
Speaking on Nigeria’s productivity gap, Ayanlowo said NES #32 will confront what organisers describe as a deep, structural productivity challenge across Nigeria’s economy.
She lamented that Agriculture yields remain among the lowest in the world for comparable climates and soil types.
She said post-harvest losses are estimated at 30% to 40% for many food commodities, representing billions of naira is destroyed value every year.
According to her, processing capacity is limited, cold chain infrastructure is nearly absent outside major urban centres, and access to certified inputs, mechanisation, and extension services remains restricted for most smallholder farmers.
In manufacturing, she quoted that the sector’s contribution to GDP continues to decline, while energy costs remain crippling, with manufacturers citing electricity as their single largest operational constraint.
She added: “Import competition, particularly from subsidised goods, and the absence of an integrated industrial policy have further weakened domestic producers.
“In Services, digital adoption is uneven. While Nigeria has built a globally recognised technology ecosystem, many businesses still operate well below their technological potential.
“These are not cyclical problems. They are the result of underinvestment in productive infrastructure, inefficient regulatory environments, weak institutional capacity, and insufficient capital flows into priority sectors.”
“Fixing them requires coordinated policy action and strategic private investment — the exact dialogue NES #32 is designed to catalyse.”
The NESG noted that “Produce Nigeria” dialogue will bring together manufacturers, agro-industrialists, investors, policymakers, and innovators to build consensus around four strategic pillars: agriculture, manufacturing, investment and innovation and digital adoption.
“NES #32 will explore how agro-industrialisation through processing facilities, storage infrastructure, and integrated value chains from farm to market can simultaneously reduce food insecurity, create manufacturing jobs, and reduce the import bill.
“Priority value chains with immediate high-value export potential include cassava, rice, cocoa, sesame, and soya.
The Summit will examine policy interventions to restore manufacturing competitiveness.
These include: Special Economic Zones (SEZs) with reliable power and streamlined regulatory processes;Fiscal incentives for value-added production; Local content frameworks that create guaranteed market opportunities for domestic producers and
Digital manufacturing and Industry 4.0 technologies to enable Nigeria to leapfrog traditional industrial pathways
The NESG assured that NES #32 will address the historical misallocation of capital toward sectors with short payback periods such as financial services, real estate, and trading, and away from patient, long-term investments in manufacturing plants, agro-processing facilities, and industrial infrastructure.
“The Summit will focus on mechanisms including development finance instruments, blended finance structures, risk-sharing mechanisms for productive-sector lending, and reform of incentive structures that currently favour extraction over production.
International and domestic investors will define the specific policy conditions required to make productive investment in Nigeria viable and attractive.
Commenting on innovation and digital adoption, the NESG said leveraging Nigeria’s world-class technology ecosystem, the Summit will explore how to scale digital solutions into the real economy.
“From precision agriculture platforms that raise yields, to logistics technology that connects producers to markets, to digital payment systems that formalise supply chain transactions — technology will be positioned as a critical multiplier for productivity across agriculture, manufacturing, logistics, and services.
“The ‘Produce Nigeria’ dialogue is expected to deliver practical outcomes including policy recommendations for federal and state governments, bankable investment deal pipelines, and sector-specific roadmaps for implementation beginning Q1 2027.
“Growth that works is growth that delivers jobs, raises productivity, and creates shared prosperity.
“It is growth that moves Nigeria from exporting raw materials to exporting finished goods, from importing food to feeding the continent,” the NESG added.
