Businesses sustain growth amid December’s sluggish performance

By : Joesph Chibueze

Date: 7 January 2026 4:57am WAT

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Businesses continue to sustain the expansionary trend that started early last year, though there was a relative slowdown in performance in December 2025, the NESG Business Confidence Monitor (BCM) has stated.

The report released yesterday showed that Nigeria’s business environment maintained its expansionary trajectory in December 2025, marking 12 consecutive months of improvement in business conditions.

It, however, said that the cost of doing business rose to 61.6 points from 54.3 points in November 2025, thus slowing down the performance of businesses in the month.

The NESG BCM is a survey-based report that presents qualitative information on the current business sentiment in the Nigerian economy and gauges expectations about overall economic activities in the short term.

The report blamed the persistent financing constraints, unreliable power supply, policy uncertainty, high commercial property costs and elevated exchange rate pressures as the most significant challenges dampening business performance and confidence during the month.

According to the BCM, the current business performance index stood at 112 points in December 2025, down from 113.3 points in November 2025, but 11.2 index points higher than its level in December 2024.

The moderation in the pace of expansion reflected a general softening in business activities across sectors despite relatively strong performance in key segments and a notable surge in activity within the agriculture sector, it pointed out.

A sectoral breakdown indicates that all five major economic activities remained in the expansionary zone during the month, although three sectors recorded declines relative to November 2025.

The agriculture sector posted the greatest improvement, rising by 9.6 points to 112.9 index points, while manufacturing, which posted 117.9, also recorded a marginal increase.

In contrast, trade, with 123.8 points, non-manufacturing (101.8) and services (104.3) declined compared to November 2025.

Key sub-indices tracked by the BCM – including the general business situation, production, financial conditions, supply orders, trade stockpiling, access to credit and cash flow – recorded moderate declines relative to November 2025.

“This broad-based moderation points to a more cautious business stance and subdued consumer demand,” the report said.

Meanwhile, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) reported a further strengthening of domestic economic activity in December 2025, as the composite Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) maintained its position above the 50-point threshold for expansion.

The December 2025 PMI survey, released by the bank, puts the composite index at 57.6 index points, representing the strongest activity momentum recorded in about five years.

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