Foreign Investment Policy Reforms and Investment Climate Quality in Nigeria: A Comparative Assessment (2015-2024)

This study provides a comparative assessment of foreign investment policy reforms in Nigeria across the 2015 to 2024 period and evaluates their effectiveness in improving measurable dimensions of investment climate quality. Nigeria implemented several significant investment policy reforms during this period including the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council reforms, the Companies and Allied Matters Act amendments, the Finance Act series, and the Startup Act, each targeting specific dimensions of the investment environment. Yet Nigeria's position on global investment climate benchmarks including the World Bank Ease of Doing Business and the A.T. Kearney FDI Confidence Index has shown inconsistent improvement. The study employs a mixed-methods comparative design combining quantitative trend analysis of investment climate indicator scores across annual survey rounds with qualitative assessment of reform implementation fidelity drawing on government policy documents, stakeholder feedback reports, and 30 semi-structured interviews with investment climate reform officials and foreign business association representatives. The theoretical framework draws on the institutional reform theory, the new institutional economics, and the investment climate assessment literature. The study evaluates each major reform initiative against a structured implementation quality framework measuring legislative completeness, regulatory agency capacity, enforcement consistency, and private sector awareness. Findings are expected to reveal a persistent implementation gap, whereby announced reforms are incompletely operationalised, limiting their actual impact on investor experience and measurable climate quality indicators. Recommendations are developed for the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council on closing implementation gaps and institutionalising reform monitoring through independent third-party assessment. Keywords: investment policy reform, investment climate, Nigeria, enabling environment, FDI