The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) has urged the Federal Government to increase investment in agriculture, strengthen food supply chains and reduce production costs to improve food security and make essential commodities more affordable in the fourth quarter of 2026.
The LCCI President, Leye Kupoluyi, made the call on Wednesday at the chamber’s quarterly State-of-the-Nation Conference in Lagos, where he outlined six policy priorities for boosting investment, supporting businesses and creating jobs.
Kupoluyi said the government needed to expand irrigation, mechanisation, agricultural financing, storage facilities, rural roads and agro-processing to improve productivity and reduce losses between farms and markets.
He also called for stronger security in farming communities and better transportation networks to enable farmers to move produce efficiently, noting that high logistics costs and supply-chain bottlenecks continued to put pressure on food prices.
The LCCI president said tackling inflation required addressing structural challenges in food production and distribution, including inadequate infrastructure, insecurity in agricultural areas and the rising cost of business operations.
He urged the government to pursue policies that would reduce production costs, improve household purchasing power and make essential goods more accessible.
Beyond agriculture, Kupoluyi identified high energy and transportation costs, support for manufacturers and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), inflation management, tax and regulatory reforms, and stronger public-private sector engagement as priorities for the quarter.
He said rising petrol and diesel prices, expensive electricity and costly logistics were undermining business competitiveness, including the operations of agricultural producers and food processors.
He proposed a six-month petrol price reduction programme targeting a 15 to 20 per cent cut from the prevailing national weighted-average pump price, alongside improved electricity supply, efficient fuel distribution, domestic refining and better transport infrastructure.
On taxation and regulation, Kupoluyi called for simpler compliance procedures, harmonised levies and a review of regulations imposing disproportionate costs on SMEs, saying a more predictable business environment would encourage investment and enterprise expansion.
Addressing the global economic outlook, he cited the International Monetary Fund’s projection of 3.0 per cent global growth in 2026 but warned that geopolitical tensions, energy supply disruptions, extreme weather and financial market volatility could weaken economic prospects.
“As the global economy continues to experience persistent shocks, LCCI recommends that Nigeria work to minimise their impact on prices and the cost of living,” he said.
Kupoluyi stressed that economic growth should translate into stronger domestic production, higher productivity, improved incomes and employment rather than remain a measure of economic output alone.
“Nigeria needs a growth trajectory that is driven increasingly by productivity, private investment, industrialisation and employment creation.
“Reforms can open the door to investment, but their impact is felt only when capital begins to flow into projects that change people’s lives,” he said.
On foreign exchange, he urged the Central Bank of Nigeria to sustain reforms that improve market transparency and confidence, while ensuring businesses could access foreign exchange for legitimate productive activities.
“Exchange-rate stability must translate into greater certainty for manufacturers and other businesses that depend on imported machinery, intermediate goods, spare parts, raw materials and specialised services.
“We encourage the Central Bank of Nigeria to sustain the reforms that improve market transparency and confidence, while ensuring that legitimate productive-sector demand is met efficiently,” he said.
The LCCI president also called on federal and state governments to strengthen engagement with the private sector and ensure public revenue delivered measurable improvements in infrastructure, education, healthcare and security.
“For LCCI, the central advocacy message should be that macroeconomic stability is a foundation for growth, not an end in itself.
“The next phase of reform must convert stabilisation into lower business costs, stronger domestic production, export diversification, higher productivity and employment.
“This will require sustained public-private dialogue, measurable implementation targets and regular monitoring of reforms against outcomes that matter to businesses and households,” he said.
