Why Nigeria must measure the impact of reforms

Policy reforms are often celebrated at announcement, but their true value lies in measurable outcomes. This was the central theme at the 2026 NBA-SBL Conference. BusinessDay’s Legal Business Editor, Nkem Umeadi-Onyedika, spoke with the CPC Chair and Vice-Chair on the theme, expectations, and the legal profession’s role in ensuring reforms deliver lasting impact.

 

Oludare Senbore

1. This year’s theme, “Beyond Reforms: Measuring Policy Impact,” signals a shift from policymaking to accountability and outcomes. What informed this thematic direction, and why is it particularly relevant for Nigeria at this time?

This thematic direction was informed by the need to shift the national conversation from the announcement of reforms to their real-world effects. In recent years, Nigeria has introduced a wide range of economic, fiscal, regulatory, and institutional changes. That is important, but the more critical question now is whether these reforms are producing measurable improvements in the business climate, investor confidence, job creation, institutional efficiency, and economic growth.

It is particularly relevant at this time because businesses and citizens are already feeling the direct impact of these policy shifts. There is therefore a strong need for a conversation that is not only about intent, but about outcomes. Nigeria needs a framework for asking hard questions: What has changed? What is working? What is not? And how do we ensure reforms translate into tangible benefits for the economy and for society?

2. Businesses continue to raise concerns around regulatory unpredictability despite ongoing reforms. Do you think Nigeria’s policy environment sufficiently prioritises legal certainty and consistency for investors?

Nigeria has made progress in reforming its policy and regulatory environment, but legal certainty and consistency remain areas that require much stronger attention. Investors do not only look for reform; they look for predictability, coherence, and confidence that rules will be applied fairly and consistently over time.

At present, many businesses still grapple with overlapping regulations, shifting interpretations, implementation gaps, and uncertainty around enforcement. These realities can weaken investor confidence and raise the cost of doing business. So while the direction of reform is encouraging, the policy environment must do more to entrench stability, transparency, and consistency. That is essential if Nigeria is to compete effectively for capital and long-term investment.

3. What distinguished this year’s Conference from previous editions in terms of structure, ambition, and expected outcomes?

This year’s Conference placed greater emphasis on impact, implementation, and practical outcomes. This is not just a gathering for broad policy discussion; it is being structured as a platform for deeper interrogation of reforms and their consequences across sectors.

In terms of ambition, the Conference seeks to go beyond commentary and position itself as a strategic forum for evaluating what reforms have achieved and what still needs attention. The expected outcomes are also more deliberate this year: sharper policy insights, stronger stakeholder alignment, practical recommendations, and a clearer sense of what business law can contribute to reform effectiveness. The goal is for the Conference to produce value that extends beyond the event itself.

4. How will this year’s conference go beyond thought leadership into developing practical recommendations or accountability frameworks that stakeholders can track after the event?

The Conference was designed to encourage not only thought leadership but also actionable dialogue. By bringing together legal practitioners, regulators, business leaders, policymakers, and other stakeholders, the aim was to interrogate reform outcomes from multiple perspectives and identify practical steps that can improve implementation.

A key part of that process was ensuring that the conversations were solution-oriented. Rather than stopping at diagnosis, the sessions should help generate recommendations around regulatory clarity, institutional coordination, business confidence, and sector-specific reform priorities. The hope is that the outcomes of the Conference will not remain abstract, but will contribute to a broader accountability conversation that stakeholders can continue to reference and build upon after the event.

5. The NBA-SBL conference has become one of the most influential gatherings in Nigeria’s legal and business ecosystem. What responsibility does the Section have in shaping broader national economic conversations?

The Section has a significant responsibility because it sits at the intersection of law, commerce, governance, and policy. That position gives NBA-SBL a unique role in shaping credible, informed, and constructive national economic conversations.

Beyond hosting a conference, the Section has a duty to create platforms where difficult but necessary questions about reform, regulation, investment, and institutional performance can be asked and properly examined. It also has a responsibility to ensure that legal perspectives are brought into economic debates, because law is central to how markets function, how policies are implemented, and how confidence is built.

In that sense, NBA-SBL is not only convening dialogue; it is also helping shape the quality of national discourse on economic development and reform.

6. Looking beyond the conference itself, what kind of shift would you like to see emerge in Nigeria’s governance and business environment as a result of these conversations?

I would like to see an emphasis on performance in the conversations on reforms. In other words, I would like Nigeria’s governance and business environment to become one in which policies are judged not by rhetoric but by measurable results.

That means stronger institutional accountability, clearer regulations, more predictable enforcement, improved stakeholder engagement, and a business environment that gives both local and foreign investors greater confidence. It also means a deeper appreciation for the role of law in supporting sustainable economic growth.

Ultimately, the kind of shift we want is one where reforms build trust, trust drives investment, investment drives growth, and growth creates broader opportunities for businesses and citizens alike.

 

Christine Sijuwade

1. What did the preparation process reveal about the evolving priorities of the Nigerian legal and business community?

The preparation process was genuinely illuminating. What has struck us the most is how much the conversation has shifted from process to outcomes. In previous years, a great deal of energy went into discussing reforms, including what needed to change, what was being proposed, and what was on the table. This year, as we developed the programme, we found that the community was asking a different and more demanding question: are these reforms actually working? This shift reflects a community that is maturing in its expectations of both government and institutions and is keen on accountability.

We also noticed a deepening of cross-sector thinking. Legal practitioners’ engagement in economic policy conversations is increasing. They want to be in the room where decisions are made, bringing data, commercial context, and sector-specific expertise.  Furthermore, the feedback we received during the design phase indicated that people want to leave the conference with something they can use. All these influenced how we structured the programme; less panel-as-spectacle and more panel-as-working-session.

2. Cross-sector collaboration is increasingly becoming essential in addressing policy challenges. How intentionally did the NBA-SBL bring together policymakers, regulators, business leaders, and legal practitioners for this conference?

The NBA-SBL was extremely intentional, and I would say this is one of the things we are most proud of about this year’s conference. We made a deliberate decision early in the planning process that we did not want a conference where lawyers spoke to lawyers about legal things. The challenges Nigeria is navigating right now, such as macroeconomic volatility, energy transition, regulatory uncertainty, and digital transformation, do not respect professional boundaries, and our programme should not either.

So, when you look at the composition of our plenary panels, for instance, you have senior public-sector voices and regulatory representatives sitting alongside private-sector executives and market practitioners. We deliberately curated those combinations because we wanted the friction, i.e., the productive tension that comes when someone who shapes policy is in direct conversation with someone who operates within it every day. That tension, handled well, produces insight that a single-discipline panel simply cannot.  Abuja, as our host city, also reinforced this instinct; it is, after all, the seat of policy and regulation in Nigeria, and that environment shaped the conversations we brought to the floor.

3. The legal profession is increasingly intersecting with policy, finance, technology, and sustainability. How is the NBA-SBL adapting to ensure its conversations remain future-facing and commercially relevant?

In designing the programme, we were intentional about prioritisation. While themes such as AI, ESG, and fintech are undoubtedly important, our objective has not been to chase every emerging trend. Instead, we focused on a more fundamental question: where is the role of the business lawyer genuinely evolving, and what do practitioners need to understand today to remain relevant tomorrow?

Viewed through that lens, developments in policy, finance, technology, sustainability, infrastructure, and capital markets are not separate conversations. Rather, they are increasingly shaping the environment in which legal advice is given and commercial decisions are made. The modern business lawyer is not simply interpreting the law; they are helping clients navigate regulatory change, manage risk, structure transactions, access capital, and respond to rapidly shifting economic realities. Our aim, therefore, was to deliver conversations that are commercially grounded and forward-looking, equipping delegates with the insights needed to understand where business and investment are heading, position themselves as trusted strategic advisers, and lead the conversations shaping the future of the profession.

4. What were attendees to expect from the conference experience this year in terms of the quality of discussions, networking opportunities, and practical insights?

We expected them to be genuinely engaged. This is because we were very deliberate about the format of this year’s sessions. The sessions were structured to move dynamically, with the moderators working across panellists thematically to create real dialogue.

On the quality of speakers, I am proud of what we assembled. We had people in the room who are actively shaping Nigeria’s economic and regulatory landscape, not just commenting on it from the outside, which directly impacted the quality of the conversations.

As for networking, Abuja offers a unique convening power due to its proximity to government and regulatory institutions. For example, during this conference, we hosted the Regulatory Hub, where attendees could engage with key regulators and obtain on-the-spot solutions to client issues. These are valuable moments in the conference, and we designed the programme with enough breathing room to allow them to occur.

5. If attendees left the conference with one major takeaway, what would you want that to be?

If the quality of our sessions shows anything, it is that expertise, rigour, and an appetite for genuine transformation exist within the legal community. The question is how we channel that effectively into policy conversations, institutions, and the next generation of practitioners who will carry this work forward. What I hope this conference demonstrates is that the legal and business community is not a passive audience to Nigeria’s economic story. We are participants in it, and active, informed participants at that. Thus, I would want them to leave with a clearer sense of their own agency as practitioners, advisers, and citizens.