Nigeria’s insecurity threatens investment, economic growth – NESG

The Nigerian Economic Summit Group has warned that worsening insecurity across Nigeria threatens investment, agricultural production, infrastructure development, and economic growth, and called for coordinated interventions to restore confidence in the economy.

The group said persistent attacks on farming communities, oil installations, electricity infrastructure, and telecommunications facilities are undermining productivity, raising business costs, and discouraging long-term investment.

In a statement issued on Sunday by its Head of Strategic Communication and Advocacy, Ayanyinka Ayanlowo, ahead of the 32nd Nigerian Economic Summit, the NESG stressed that economic development would remain difficult without improvements in national security.

“Where security fails, productivity collapses, investment retreats, and development stalls,” the statement read.

It added that widespread insecurity was increasing Nigeria’s investment risk profile, resulting in higher financing costs, reduced capital inflows and a preference for short-term investments over productive ventures.

According to the group, restoring security would reduce economic losses while signalling to domestic and foreign investors that Nigeria remained a viable destination for long-term capital.

The NESG identified agricultural disruptions, crude oil theft and infrastructure vandalism as major security challenges weakening economic performance.

It noted that banditry, terrorism and farmer-herder conflicts had displaced millions of agricultural households, particularly across the North-West, North-Central and North-East, reducing cultivated land and worsening food insecurity.

The group cited warnings from the World Food Programme and the Food and Agriculture Organisation about Nigeria’s severe food insecurity.

It explained that the summit would examine community-based security arrangements, strategic deployment of law enforcement personnel along agricultural corridors and technology-driven early warning systems to restore farming activities.

On oil production, the NESG warned that crude oil theft continued to deprive Nigeria of substantial export earnings and foreign exchange, with losses at certain periods reaching hundreds of thousands of barrels daily.

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It said insecurity around oil installations had constrained production growth, discouraged investment and increased infrastructure repair costs.

The group proposed stronger monitoring technologies, improved transparency in upstream petroleum operations, greater economic inclusion of Niger Delta communities and tougher enforcement against oil theft networks.

Addressing infrastructure security, the NESG expressed concern over repeated attacks on electricity transmission facilities and telecommunications installations.

It explained that such incidents disrupted electricity supply, digital transactions, emergency communications and commercial activities.

The summit would therefore consider a comprehensive infrastructure protection framework that includes physical security, community engagement, rapid repairs, and stronger legal deterrents.

Beyond military operations, the NESG advocated economic and social interventions to address poverty, unemployment, inequality and exclusion, which it identified as underlying drivers of insecurity.

It maintained that sustainable security required coordinated action involving government institutions, businesses, security agencies and local communities.

“Security and development are not alternatives, they are complements. A Nigeria that invests in both will be more stable, more productive, and more prosperous,” the statement added.

The 32nd Nigerian Economic Summit, themed Growth that Works: Delivering Jobs, Productivity and Shared Prosperity, will hold on October 26 and 27, 2026, at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja.

The summit’s Secure Nigeria dialogue will bring together policymakers, security experts, business leaders, community representatives and development partners to develop strategies for protecting productive activities, critical infrastructure and investment confidence.