Saved To My Saved Content
Download Article

Three Key Takeaways From Nigerian Leaders

Nigerian leaders are refocusing on growth, with domestic expansion and talent at the center of the agenda:

Execution is the primary constraint on performance:

GenAI could compress years of capability building, but most organizations are still early in adoption:
1 / 19

Download the slideshow

Nigeria’s market sentiment and confidence in government policy are improving

After several years marked by macroeconomic volatility, currency dislocation, and policy uncertainty, Nigeria is starting 2026 on a more stable footing. While challenges remain, recent reforms and improving macro signals have begun to restore confidence.

Against this backdrop, Nigerian business leaders are adopting a more constructive outlook.Nearly three-quarters report that the business environment has improved compared with last year, and almost two-thirds express confidence that government policy over the next 12 months will support private sector growth.

Nigerian leaders are focused on domestic growth and talent

This improving sentiment is clearly reflected in strategic priorities. More than half of leaders rank domestic growth and talent retention among their top three priorities for the next three years. Rather than retrenching employees or delaying investment, many organizations are again planning to expand in their home market.

Foreign exchange volatility remains the most frequently-cited external factor shaping strategic decisions. However, it no longer dominates leadership attention to the same extent as in prior years. The balance is shifting from crisis response toward growth planning, although with continued caution.

Execution capability is 
the critical bottleneck

Despite rising confidence and clearer growth intentions, delivery remains the weakest link. Execution management is cited as the most underdeveloped capability restraining organizational ambitions. 35% of leaders identify leadership and talent gaps as the main internal constraint preventing their organizations from delivering strategic priorities. Digital and data capabilities also rank among the greatest capability shortfalls.

These findings indicate a consistent pattern. The challenge is not a lack of strategic ideas, capital, or market opportunity. It is the ability to mobilize people, resources, and decisions effectively over time.

Many organizations struggle with fragmented transformation efforts, unclear ownership, and limited performance visibility. As growth ambitions accelerate, these execution gaps become more pronounced and costly.

GenAI ambition is high, but adoption is still limited

Interest in GenAI is rising rapidly among Nigerian leaders. More than 80% expect to integrate GenAI into their organizations within the next 12 to 24 months, with productivity improvement cited as the primary near-term ambition.

Yet current adoption remains limited. Nearly two-thirds of Nigerian organizations report that they are still exploring or piloting GenAI use cases, while only a small minority claim to have scaled or embedded GenAI in their businesses.

This gap between ambition and maturity matters. Pilots build familiarity, but they do not create sustained advantage. Without clear use case prioritization, dedicated talent, and strong governance, GenAI initiatives struggle to move beyond isolated successes.

For Nigeria, the opportunity is significant. GenAI can help offset talent shortages, improve execution consistency, and accelerate decision-making. To capture this value, organizations should move decisively from experimentation to disciplined deployment.

Four Ways Forward For Nigerian Leaders in 2026

Nigeria’s next chapter will not be defined by who has the boldest vision, but by who can execute in an uncertain environment. Nigerian organizations can build resilience by focusing on four priorities:
Plan with optimism and resilience
Rather than anchoring on single-point forecasts, executives can leverage uncertainty as an advantage. They can build flexibility into capital allocation and investment sequencing to enable them to act decisively while preserving strategic options as volatility evolves.
Invest where capability unlocks value
Most organizations are already investing in talent, digital power, and execution. Their efforts should now shift to focus. Leaders can redirect capital and leadership time toward the few capability gaps that unlock disproportionate value, rather than spread investment evenly across many priorities.
Upskill for GenAI and digital
Since digital and AI fluency is still nascent and GenAI largely in pilot use, leaders should focus on foundational upskilling. They can build basic data literacy, GenAI awareness, and hands-on experience through targeted pilots, structured learning, and cross-functional teams, so capabilities mature alongside real business use cases.
Build the muscle to execute
Leading organizations are investing deliberately in execution management by reinforcing transformation governance, enforcing clear stage gates, and creating end-to-end accountability in initiatives.

Conclusion: Winners Combine Disciplined Execution With Speed

Nigeria is experiencing a moment of cautious optimism. The macro environment is improving, confidence is returning, and leaders are ready to grow again. But growth will not reward mere aspiration.

The organizations that win the next decade will be those that close the execution gap, build real delivery capability, and harness GenAI as a business tool rather than a technology experiment. For Nigerian leaders, the question is no longer whether the opportunity exists. It is whether their organizations are ready to capture it.