• Flags low productivity as key national challenge
•Urges Nigeria to rationalise tax exemptions, reduce leakages
Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja
The African Development Bank (AfDB) has identified Nigeria’s weak domestic revenue base and persistently low productivity as the country’s most pressing economic constraints, warning that unless both are addressed, meeting an estimated $2.3 trillion infrastructure financing requirement by 2043 will remain an uphill task.
In its 2026 Country Focus Report on Nigeria, themed: ‘Mobilising Nigeria’s Development Financing at Scale in a Fragmented World’ the continental lender argued that although the country has embarked on significant fiscal and structural reforms, limited revenue mobilisation and poor productivity continue to undermine the government’s capacity to finance development priorities and sustain long-term economic growth.
