Nigeria's Business Confidence Index rises to 14.8 points in August
Nigeria's Business Confidence Index rose to 14.8 points in August 2026, up from 5.7 points in July, according to the Central Bank of Nigeria's August Business Expectations Survey. The jump reflects stronger positive sentiment driven by increased demand (25.9%), economic diversification (18.3%) and the monetary policy stance (14.2%). Businesses also expect the index to climb to 23.6 points in September, 30.1 in November and 36.1 by February 2027.
Sector-level data shows Industry confidence at 17.1 points, Services at 13.3 and Agriculture at 13.9. The Electricity, Gas and Water Supply sector recorded the highest confidence at 50.0 points, while Construction leads expansion outlook for September at 73.9 points and Mining and Quarrying posted the highest capacity utilisation at 58.1 %.
Despite the optimism, firms cited high or multiple taxation (67.8 %), insecurity (66.9 %) and borrowing costs (63.5 %) as top constraints, followed by high bank charges (61.1 %) and competition (59.5 %). The CBN kept the benchmark interest rate at 26.5 % even as headline inflation eased to 15.43 %.
What does this mean for your business or investments? With confidence rising but tax and insecurity pressures remaining, will you adjust your expansion plans, hedge against borrowing costs, or wait for clearer policy signals?