Nigeria’s business environment recorded a modest improvement in May 2026, as the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG) Business Confidence Monitor (BCM) Index rose to 104.6 points from 102.1 points in April.
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The increase reflects continued expansion in private sector activity, although growth remains fragile and uneven across sectors.
According to the NESG Business Confidence Monitor report, the improvement was largely driven by increased consumer spending during the festive season, which supported business activity in several key sectors.
However, performance remained inconsistent as structural constraints continued to weigh on overall operations.
Despite the monthly gain, the index remains below the 109.8 points recorded in May 2025, highlighting weaker year-on-year sentiment and persistent economic pressures across industries.
What the report is saying
The NESG Business Confidence Monitor (BCM) Index for May 2026 remains below 109.8 points recorded in May 2025, showing weaker year-on-year performance.
- Manufacturing rose sharply to 114.1 points from 98.7 points, entering strong expansion territory.
- Agriculture declined to 97.5 points from 103.2 points, slipping further into contraction.
- Non-manufacturing fell to 99.4 points from 101.6 points, reflecting weaker business activity.
- Services improved to 103.5 points, while trade rose to 105.5 points, both remaining in expansion.
Overall, the data shows a fragile recovery driven largely by short-term demand rather than broad structural improvements.
More Insights
The NESG Business Confidence Monitor tracks monthly business sentiment across Nigeria’s key economic sectors, reflecting both current performance and near-term expectations. The May 2026 reading continues a pattern of uneven recovery, where sectoral gains are offset by persistent weaknesses in other areas.
- Manufacturing was the strongest-performing sector, supported by festive-season demand across food, beverages, textiles, and basic metal industries.
- Agriculture weakened due to insecurity in farming regions, rising input costs, and infrastructure deficits.
- Non-manufacturing slipped into contraction, affected by high rental costs, power shortages, and tighter credit conditions.
- Services and trade recorded moderate gains, driven by increased consumer spending during the festive period.
Manufacturers, despite strong output growth, continued to face structural bottlenecks such as unreliable electricity supply, raw material shortages, weak infrastructure, and limited access to credit, all of which constrained investment and increased production costs.
What you should know
The NESG Future Business Expectation Index stood at 127.0 points in May 2026, reflecting continued optimism among businesses about the short-term outlook despite current challenges.
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) reported that Nigeria’s economy recorded a real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth of 3.89% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2026.
In nominal terms, aggregate GDP at basic prices rose to N110.79 trillion in Q1 2026 from N94.05 trillion in Q1 2025, representing a nominal year-on-year growth of 17.79 per cent.
The economy remained broadly driven by non-oil activities, although the oil sector also posted moderate growth despite lower production volumes during the quarter.
