Oluchi Chibuzor
The Board Chair of Nigerian Breweries Plc, Juliet Anammah, has underscored the importance of strong corporate governance and consistent industrial policy as critical drivers of Nigeria’s long-term economic growth and prosperity.
She made the call while delivering the keynote address at the 2026 National Corporate Governance Summit held in Lagos.
In her speech, Anammah called for consistent industrial policies that enable businesses to move up the value chain and create higher-value products. Using Nigerian Breweries as an example, she explained that the right policy environment could support the company in expanding beyond brewing into products that serve industries such as pharmaceuticals and aerospace.
She explained that industrial policies must outlive political administrations if Nigeria is to build globally competitive industries. According to her, long-term policy consistency would encourage private investment, deepen industrial capability and ultimately help Nigeria transition to upper middle-income status.
“Government must be willing to support these industries with good governance, thereby allowing them to move from the first level of where they are in terms of the types of products they’re producing to a much more complex level of products that make our economic cycle and the engine of the economy much more complex. From there, you can get value-added products that you can export to get foreign exchange”, she said.
Other speakers, including Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Senator Kashim Shettima, represented by the Special Adviser to the President on Economic Affairs, Dr. Tope Fasua; the President/Chairman, Institute of Directors, Centre for Corporate Governance, Urum Eke, and the Chairman, National Corporate Governance Summit, Abba Kyari Bukar, also highlighted the importance of strong corporate governance in achieving Nigeria’s ambition of building a resilient, competitive $1 trillion economy