The Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA) said there is a need for the country to create bold reforms across fiscal, trade and regulatory systems to unlock the potential of businesses.

The association said with the current state of the nation, it was critical to build consensus on a forward-looking policy and institutional roadmap for sustainable enterprise and inclusive economic development as well as foster partnerships between the public and private sectors.

Director-General of NECA, Adewale-Smatt Oyerinde, said this ahead of the association’s fourth Nigeria Employers’ Summit, slated to be held in Abuja from June 25 to 26, 2025, with the theme, ‘Enabling Sustainable Enterprise in a Transitioning Economy: Aligning Fiscal, Trade, and Regulatory Reforms for Inclusive Development’.

Amidst the challenges, Oyerinde said there was a tremendous opportunity to reposition the Nigerian economy for enterprise-driven, inclusive and sustainable growth.

According to him, rebuilding the Nigerian economy is a shared responsibility, “and the engine of that rebuilding is an enterprise — an enterprise that is supported, not stifled, empowered, not burdened”.

“On the state of reforms in the country, what the government has done in some sectors is to get the nation out of the woods, hoping that in the next few years, we will start seeing visible progress.

“We are advocating and pushing seriously that there is a need to align all the policies and get definitive consensus from the private sector. Whatever the government needs to do is to partner with the private sector. Private sector needs to make input and our voice needs to be heard,” he said.

Chairman of the Summit Planning Committee, Victoria Uwadoka, urged the public sector to re-commit to enabling policies and regulatory coherence while the private sector steps up with innovation, investments and jobs.

“We aim to bring together leaders from government, industry, civil society, and the international community to engage in open, solution-oriented dialogue around some of the most urgent and strategic issues confronting enterprise in Nigeria today,” she said.