“This imbalance shows that investors still hesitate to commit capital to Nigeria’s real economy,” the LCCI stressed.
Furthermore, manufacturing suffered even sharper setbacks.
Once positioned as a driver of industrialisation, the sector attracted only $129.92 million in Q1 2025—down 32% compared with the same period in 2024.
High energy costs, foreign exchange shortages, and regulatory uncertainty forced several multinationals to scale back or leave altogether.
Food Inflation Still Rising
Consequently, the LCCI warned that Nigeria cannot continue to rely on speculative inflows.
The country must instead channel investments into sectors that create long-term growth, competitiveness, and employment.
Although headline inflation continues to ease, food prices tell a different story.
Food inflation climbed to 22.74% year-on-year, while rural communities suffered sharper monthly increases than cities.
As a result, the chamber urged government to step up agricultural support, improve rural infrastructure, and strengthen logistics networks to tackle supply bottlenecks.
Call For Bold Reforms
To address these challenges, the LCCI called on the federal government to:
- Stabilise exchange rate management and monetary policies.
- Reform the oil and gas sector to reduce logistics costs.
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- Expand electricity supply through power sector reforms.
- Boost non-oil exports to improve foreign exchange liquidity.
- Improve access to credit and cut business registration bottlenecks.
By pursuing these reforms, the LCCI argued, government can create an environment where investors feel confident to commit long-term capital.
“The easing of inflation and the increase in capital inflows give us hope,” the chamber concluded.
“But unless we create policies that encourage productive investment, Nigeria’s gains will remain temporary, and businesses and households will continue to struggle.”
