Proshare Convenes 6th Economist Conference

Proshare, one of Nigeria’s leading financial and markets intelligence platforms, will convene the 6th Edition of its flagship Economist Conference on Tuesday, 18 February 2026, bringing together policymakers, market leaders, and institutional investors to address the country’s most pressing macroeconomic question: Can Nigeria fund itself without destroying private capital formation?

The conference themed ‘Debt, Rates, and Growth: Can Nigeria Fund Itself Without Killing Private Investment?’ takes place against the backdrop of Nigeria’s N58.47 trillion 2026 budget requiring N25.27 trillion in deficit financing, an unprecedented fiscal challenge that has intensified concerns around debt sustainability, crowding out of private investment, and the viability of alternative funding models.

A statement explained that the conference would feature a high-calibre panel including Mrs. Sanyade Okoli, Special Adviser to the President on Finance and Economy; Ms. Ibukun Oyedeji, Group Chief Financial Officer at Access Holdings Plc; Prof. Frances Obafemi, Professor of Economics at University of Calabar; and Mr. Johnson Chukwu, Group CEO of Cowry Asset Management.

The panel would be moderated by Ottoabasi Abasiekong, Team Lead, News at Proshare, with remarks from Olufemi Awoyemi, Founder and Chairman of Proshare, Dr. Ayo Teriba, CEO of Economics Associates, and Teslim Shitta-Bey, Chief Economist of Proshare.

“The N189 Billion Asset Sale Question: With the Federal Government targeting N189 billion from state-owned asset sales—less than one percent of the deficit—panelists will examine whether this represents genuine asset financialisation or merely fiscal gap-plugging through balance-sheet liquidation.

“The Bureau of Public Enterprises has identified 91 federal assets spanning oil and gas, power, transport, and real estate for potential privatisation. The conference will ask why this portfolio yields such modest revenue projections and what prevents Nigeria from structuring these holdings as diversified investment vehicles—infrastructure REITs, transport concessions, energy utilities—that generate recurring income rather than one-time cash.

“AGOA Renewal and Export Dependency: The recent AGOA (African Growth and Opportunity Act) renewal extension runs only to year-end 2026, with explicit ‘America First’ reciprocity expectations. This narrow window underscores Nigeria’s structural dependence on preferential trade access rather than competitive export positioning, reinforcing the urgency of domestic revenue mobilisation independent of external trade concessions,” the statement added.

The conference will be structured around three critical pillars: “Session I: The Macro Reality Check – Examining debt dynamics, fiscal deficits, and the policy constraints facing Nigeria’s economic governance architecture.

“Session II: Market Impact and Capital Allocation – Assessing how sovereign borrowing dominance is reshaping credit availability, yields, and institutional investment decisions across banks, pension funds, and corporates.

“Session III: The Investment Playbook – Identifying where opportunities and risks lie in Nigeria’s new macroeconomic regime, including strategies for navigating high rates, fiscal dominance, and potential asset-backed instruments,” it stated further.

Speaking on the conference objectives, Awoyemi emphasised its structural urgency, saying, “Nigeria’s N25.27 trillion deficit financing requirement forces a fundamental question: are we cannibalising private capital formation to fund public consumption, or building a sustainable revenue architecture that unlocks both state assets and private investment?

“The N189 billion asset sale target and the narrow AGOA renewal window both signal that Nigeria can no longer rely on a binary funding model of taxation and debt alone. This conference will determine whether we’re witnessing the beginning of genuine asset financialisation or simply emergency balance-sheet liquidation.

“The conference is designed for policymakers and regulators, banks and financial institutions, pension fund administrators and asset managers, corporate treasurers and CFOs, development finance institutions, local and foreign investors, and economists, analysts, and market strategists seeking actionable insights into Nigeria’s fiscal trajectory and investment landscape for 2026-2028.”