CPPE Urges Lower Production Costs as Nigeria’s GDP Growth Hits 4.43%

The Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise (CPPE) has urged the Federal Government to lower production costs and accelerate power-sector reforms as Nigeria’s real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rose to 4.43% in the second quarter of 2026.

CPPE made the call in a policy brief on the Q2 GDP report released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), which showed that economic growth increased from 3.89% in the first quarter and 4.23% in the corresponding quarter of 2025.

The private-sector advocacy group said the latest growth was supported by stronger oil production and expansion across agriculture, mining, construction, trade, refining, financial services, real estate and other service activities.

According to CPPE, oil-sector growth accelerated from 2.57% in Q1 to 7.31% in Q2, while average crude oil production increased from 1.55 million barrels per day to 1.72 million barrels per day.

The non-oil sector also recorded stronger growth, rising from 3.94% in Q1 to 4.31% in Q2, while services grew by 4.60% and accounted for 56.62% of real GDP.

CPPE said mining and quarrying grew from 1.89% to 6.37%, agriculture from 3.15% to 4.39%, construction from 6.38% to 6.75%, trade from 2.08% to 2.40%, and financial and insurance services from 8.54% to 9.29%.

Domestic oil refining recorded 43.94% growth in Q2, up from 37.46% in the first quarter, while cement expanded by 12.75%.

The group, however, said manufacturing remained constrained by high energy, financing and logistics costs, despite maintaining positive growth of 3.24% in Q2 compared with 3.29% in Q1.

CPPE also identified electricity, textiles and some mining activities as weak points in the economy.

Electricity, gas and steam contracted by 10.63% in Q2, following a 15.30% contraction in Q1, while textiles, apparel and footwear declined by 1.23%.

The organisation called for increased investment in electricity generation, transmission and distribution, as well as measures to address gas supply and liquidity constraints in the power market.

It also urged the government to support employment-intensive sectors including agro-processing, textiles, pharmaceuticals, automotive components, chemicals, construction materials and light manufacturing.

On financing, CPPE called for lower-cost, longer-term credit for businesses and said the financial sector should channel more funds to manufacturing, agriculture, mining and micro, small and medium-sized enterprises.

The group further recommended improvements in roads, rail, ports, warehousing and other logistics infrastructure to reduce the cost of moving goods.

CPPE said the government should complement economic growth with policies aimed at improving employment, real household incomes and MSME performance.

“The next task is to ensure that stronger GDP growth translates into expanding businesses, productive employment, rising real incomes and a steady reduction in poverty,” the group said.