Nigeria's scale and complexity demand more than standard approaches. Africa's most populous country holds enormous growth and development potential, but political incentives, competition and patronage shape how policies are implemented on the ground. 

Since 2004, The Policy Practice (TPP) has helped development partners navigate Nigeria’s complex political economy reality through rigorous political economy analysis and strategic advice.

Our team of more than 15 principal and associate experts, over half of them Nigeria-based, brings deep local knowledge, broad networks across government, civil society and the private sector, and more than one or two decades of experience in their technical fields. Together, they deliver timely, independent, accurate and actionable analysis which makes a difference.

Grounding strategy in political reality

In Nigeria, policies often look sound on paper but implementation is shaped by political barriers. Rather than treating these as insurmountable, TPP identifies the entry points where alignment of interests, capability or political will makes progress possible.

This perspective has underpinned our long-standing relationship with the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), helping shape its "thinking and working politically" (TWP) approach for strategies and programmes in Nigeria and beyond. TPP contributes both to upstream programme design and ongoing implementation support.

A prime example is the £133 million Partnership to Engage, Reform and Learn (PERL, 2016–2024). TPP was involved in the preparation of the programme and developed its Theory of Change which linked improvements in how governments operate (“supply side”) with citizen demand for accountability (“the demand side”). This Theory of Change shaped many of the programme’s strategic decisions over time. We then supported PERL’s evidence and research component to facilitate lesson learning and strategic adjustments throughout implementation. At close, we led a major evaluation of 20 years of UK governance programming in Nigeria, which found significant progress in governance, health and education across FCDO-supported states, in particular thanks to PERL's politically informed approach.

"Our approach is unique because we don't just write advice; we are embedded within the partner organisation to help them understand local issues."

Improving how public money flows

Much of our advisory work focuses on how financial flows can be improved so that Nigeria makes better use of its own resources and reduces dependence on external funding.

In education, our embedded analysis for the £170 million Partnership for Learning for All in Nigeria (PLANE, 2019–2028) has informed programme efforts to reduce the number of out-of-school children in northern Nigeria. TPP's advice has highlighted systemic weaknesses in education financing and service delivery. We pointed to opportunities to engage parents and religious leaders beyond government, and helped the programme consider how to integrate Western and Quranic education, with a view to supporting girls' attendance, increasing social acceptability and improving state financing.

In climate and governance, through the £38.8 million Partnership for Agile Governance and Climate Engagement (PACE, 2023–2028), we aim to help the programme unlock domestic and international finance for green growth, and to identify the public financial management reforms needed to sustain these new financial flows.

From analysis to operational decisions

TPP's thinking and working politically approach means we translate political economy analysis into practical operational decisions. For Propcom+ (2022–2030, £95 million), a market systems and climate-smart agriculture programme, we provide targeted advice on digital extension services, commodity sourcing for agro-processing, and forest governance.

We also build our partners' own analytical capacity through training, mentoring and coaching. For the Strengthening Peace and Resilience in Nigeria (SPRiNG, 2023–2028, £37.6 million) programme, we conduct regular conflict and political economy analysis in ways that enable the team to track political economy developments in their interventions and focal states. We also help identify opportunities for productive collaboration with other FCDO projects, including with Propcom+ on the drivers of agrarian community conflict.

Beyond FCDO, we work with a range of clients. We helped the Children's Investment Fund Foundation better understand the issues that affect family and reproductive health across Nigeria.

“We don't assume things are broken and won't work. We start off by diagnosing the problems carefully, identifying where there are gaps but also where there is capacity and a willingness to change that you might not know about. We can point you to the foundations you can lean on and the ones that you can't."

Why it matters now

As development budgets shrink, focused and operational political economy analysis has become indispensable. It ensures that remaining programmes are targeted on the highest-priority issues with the best chance of success. TPP delivers both in-depth reports and concise, just-in-time insights within tight timeframes, in formats designed to inform management decisions on strategy, diplomatic engagement or investment.

This is equally relevant for private sector investors and financial institutions operating in Nigeria who need to manage political risk on a daily basis (even when they prefer not to name it as such). TPP's experience shows that progress is possible in even the most complex environments, when strategies are grounded in a realistic understanding of how change happens.

If you are looking for a trusted partner to navigate Nigeria's political economy, get in touch.

Picture of Tobechukwu Nneil and Ifeoma Chukwuma meeting the Enugu State Education Commissioner as part of research into non-state education in South East Nigeria.