According to the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) Business Expectation Survey carried out in July, the business outlook rose by 16.4 index points month on month. However, the overall Confidence Index for July 2020 remained pessimistic/negative at -7.9 index points considering that the Index in the preceding month was -24.3 points2. The sectors surveyed were agriculture, manufacturing, and the construction sectors with a more disaggregated data showing that businesses that are neither import nor export-oriented were the most pessimist in the review period. In a more forward-looking survey, respondents had a more optimistic outlook for the month of August (33.7 index points). Understandably, as society transitions back to normal, business activities are expected to improve. While the business community will no doubt be adversely affected by the pandemic, the several interventions put in place by the government should be leveraged on to support businesses.
August 17, 2020
Nigeria Economic Update (Issue 31)
Related
Nigeria Economic Update (Issue 52)
Recently released
population estimate figures by the Nigeria Bureau of Statistics, show a
significant increase in Nigerias population, based on the 2006 census. Notably,
total population grew by an estimated 40 percent from 2006, to 193 million persons
in 2016. Also, disaggregate demographic data from 2007 to 2016, reveals
an increase in the number of males (74 million to 99 million) and females (71
million to 95 million), with a 2016 gender (males to females) percentage ratio
of 51:49. The high rate of population growth can be attributed to the improvements
in average annual rate of natural increase the difference between
crude birth rate and death rate. As in preceding years, the composition of
children and youths make up the highest share of the population growth. This presents
a potential increase in the rate of labour supply. Going forward, there is need
for the government to support rapid job creation in order to check the
potential upsurge in unemployment rate.
Nigeria Economic Update (Issue 5)
Recently released media highlights show that Nigeria has dropped in terms of macroeconomic indicator rankings in 2018. With a headline index of 2.77, Nigeria is ranked 158th globally out of 181 countries five places lower than the previous year rankings. Indicators suggest that Nigeria is presently behind 28 other African countries, and just ahead of only 4 West African countries (Mauritania, Togo, Niger and Guinea Bissau).