Citizenship Business
The Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) August 2026 Business Expectations Survey (BES) has reported that business confidence has strengthened significantly, with the Business Confidence Index (BCI) rising to 14.8 points from 5.7 index points in July.
A Nigeria Economic Update report in its Issue 36 noted that the improvement was broad-based, with confidence increasing in industry (17.1 from 11.5), agriculture (13.9 from 3.4) and services (13.3 from 3.6). Respondents identified increased demand (25.9%), economic diversification (18.3%) and monetary policy (14.2%) as the main drivers of improved sentiment. Confidence is expected to strengthen further, reaching 23.6 points in September, 30.1 in November and 36.1 by February 2027.
Despite this positive outlook, high taxation (67.8 points), insecurity (66.9 points) and high interest rates (63.5 points) remain major constraints on business activity. These challenges could limit firms’ ability to translate stronger confidence and demand expectations into investment, production and employment.
The government should therefore focus on converting improved sentiment into realised economic activity.
First, fiscal authorities should harmonise business-related taxes across government levels and eliminate overlapping levies. Second, targeted credit-guarantee and risk-sharing schemes should be expanded to reduce financing constraints for productive firms, particularly SMEs.
Third, security agencies should prioritise agricultural zones, industrial clusters and major transport corridors to minimise disruptions to production and trade.
Finally, monetary and fiscal authorities should strengthen policy coordination and communication to improve the predictability of the business environment.
