Publication

Pension tur ns lifeline as jobless Niger ians withdraw N12bn to sur vive

Nigeria’s worsening employment and economic challenges are forcing thousands of workers to fall back on their retirement savings for immediate survival, with more than N12 billion withdrawn from pension accounts by unemployed contributors in just three...

Niger ia’s middle class wanted better car s. T he nair a had other plans

Kekemeke Karatei realised he had saved up more hope than cash after arriving at the car lot to be informed that the N6 million he had been nursing for many months to finally own a 14-year-old used Honda was only sufficient to get him something even...

June 12 throws challenge for INEC ahead of 2027

■ Public trust erodes as voter turnout hits historic lows

Niger ia’s minimum wage no match for N700,000 sur vival cost

By the third week of every month, Ibrahim Olarinrin’s salary is gone. The 38-yearold Lagos resident earns N300,000 a month working for a professional services firm in accounting and finance. Yet feeding his wife and two children now costs about

How Electoral Act 2026 consumed its architects

When members of the National Assembly passed the Electoral Act 2026, many lawmakers clinked glasses and hailed it as a bold attempt to deepen internal party democracy, curb impunity, and sanitise Nigeria’s chaotic nomination process. For years, party...

Niger ia’s ginger expor t cr ashes fr om N26 billion to zer o in thr ee year s

Nigeria’s non-oil export ambitions suffered a severe setback, with ginger exports collapsing to zero by the end of 2025, down from N26.2 billion three years prior. A devastating combination of a persistent fungal blight and soaring production costs has...

Price surge tilts Nigeria toward rate hold

The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is facing severe pressure to maintain the benchmark interest rate at its upcoming meeting. Renewed geopolitical volatility in the Middle East has heightened global inflation...

Politics before people: How 2027 ambitions are reshaping government spending

Long before the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) officially fires the starting gun for the 2027 general election, government spending across Nigeria is already beginning to wear the colours of campaign politics. In many states,...

Port delays choke national shipping portal six weeks af ter launch

Six weeks after its launch on March 27, the heavily anticipated National Single Window (NSW), a national shipping portal introduced to centralise trade documentation, is facing mounting criticism from operators who say it has lengthened clearance...

CBN dr ains r ecor d nair a liquidit y as election season shapes up

Traditionally, pre-election years in Nigeria are characterised by a deluge of campaign spending that could drown the economy in inflationary pressure. To preempt this surge, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has ramped up its Open Market Operations...

How Nigeria’s wealth vanishes before reaching federation account

Nigeria’s economic crisis may not be rooted in a lack of money, but in a system that allows enormous revenues to disappear before they ever reach the nation’s central purse. A new policy paper by Olisa Agbakoba Legal argues that trillions of naira...

LIFESTYLE

The Art of Liquid Scents: Inside the Sensory Revolution at Lagos’ Newest ‘Senbar’

Niger ian str eamer s bet on dir ect sales to end margin squeeze

Nigeria’s music industry generated N901 billion in revenue in 2024, with projections pointing toward a billion-dollar valuation by 2033. Yet, independent artists continue to face thin margins from traditional streaming platforms. A growing number of...

FG’S debt binge pr ices businesses out of cr edit

Nigeria’s fiscal outlook is facing scrutiny as rapid government borrowing and rising debt-service costs tighten public finances and constrain private-sector access to credit. With the federal government dominating the domestic debt market to plug...

Banks swoop-in on telcos’ N400bn air time lending business

Nigerian banks have launched a strategic offensive into territory long controlled by telecommunications companies, aggressively capturing a massive N400 billion airtime and data credit market with cheaper lending rates. Guaranty Trust Bank (Gtbank) is...

L-R:

Sarah Agha, marketing director, Nigerian Breweries plc.; Thibaut Boidin, managing director, Nigerian Breweries plc.; and Uzodinma Odenigbo, corporate affairs director, Nigerian Breweries plc., at the flag-off of the Heineken House Experience featuring...

Solar power ignites economic boom in Niger ian v illage that oil for got

Blessing Ebere remembers the exact moment she decided to sell her generator. It was sometime in 2022, a few months after Renewvia Solar Nigeria switched on a new mini-grid serving her community in the Etche Local Government Area of Rivers State. For...

2027: N/east APC boils as bigwigs battle to install anointed candidates

The North East zone of the All Progressives Congress (APC) is witnessing heightened political tension as powerful figures at both federal and state levels jostle to install preferred candidates ahead of the party’s primaries for the 2027 general...

TOURISM

Kings and commerce: Inside Lagos’s high stakes world of Polo and power

Stagnant wages leave Niger ian workers trailing peers

Tunde Alabi, a fuel attendant in Lagos, earns the national minimum wage of N70,000 ($44) a month — an income that barely lasts two weeks. By the time he pays for transport to work, contributes to food at home, and buys essentials, there is almost...

Niger ia’s fish far mer s r eel fr om 8-year-old expor t ban

An eight-year United States export ban on Nigerian smoked cat sh, imposed a er the federal government failed to submit required safety documen- tation, is hindering investments and limiting farmers’ access to key markets. e US has, since March 2018,...

Lagos eyes 2027 take-off for fir st state-licensed power plants

Lagos State is set to record a major milestone in Nigeria’s power sector reform, with the rst state-licensed independent power producers (IPPS) expected to commence commercial operations between 2026 and early 2027, signalling a shi from policy to...

Telcos lose gr ip on N400bn air time lending business to five fir ms

Nigerian telecom operators are losing direct control of a lucrative revenue stream estimated at over N400 billion annually, as regulators move to restructure the fast-growing airtime and data lending market. The shift follows a directive by the...

Taiwo Oyedele: The reformist now holding Nigeria’s fiscal levers

The elevation of Taiwo Oyedele to Nigeria’s finance leadership is less a political appointment than the culmination of a carefully built reform career, one defined by technical depth, institutional influence, and a consistent push to rethink how the...

W hy Nolly wood can’t affor d lifetime r oyalties to actor s

The debate over lifetime royalties in Nollywood is currently hitting a wall of hard math. While the sentiment points toward a more digni ed future for performers, the economic architecture of Nigerian cinema remains ill-equipped to sustain such a...

Insecur it y squeezes Nor ther n Niger ia as food pr ices sur ge

Across northern Nigeria, from the insurgency-ravaged communities of Borno State, Yobe State and Adamawa State to the banditry-prone zones of Kaduna State, Katsina State and Kano State, a deepening security crisis is steadily dismantling economic...

Like Uzoka-anite, T inubu’s latest cabinet reshuffle came without notice for Edun

In a move that has sent ripples through the corridors of power and the nancial markets alike, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has fundamentally recalibrated the leadership of Nigeria’s economy. e departure of Wale Edun as minister of nance and coordinating...

Pension returns match inflation for first time in seven years

Pension returns in Nigeria are beginning to catch up with in ation for the rst time in seven years, signalling a potential turning point for contributors who have endured years of eroded real value in their retirement savings. Omolola Oloworaran,...

Stocks sur ge to N140tr n as global investor s pile back into Niger ia

The Nigerian stock market is currently charging toward a historic N140 trillion valuation, catalysed by a massive buy signal from the international investment community. is bullish momentum follows the pivotal April 7 announcement of Nigeria’s reclassi...

From boom to bust: Why reforms have failed to rebuild Nigeria’s economy

There was a time when Nigeria’s economy carried the quiet confidence of a nation that produced much of what it consumed. From vehicle assembly lines in Kaduna and Lagos to textile mills in the North and rubber-fed tyre factories in the South, the...

Repackaged expired products dominate Nigeria’s N34trn food market

By the roadside along the busy Iju-ishaga Road in Lagos state, a small kiosk shaded by a fading canopy draws a steady stream of customers. e stall is little more than a wooden table and a cluster of paint buckets arranged for display. From a distance,...

Rising insecur it y dents Niger ia’s investment push

Nigeria’s e orts to reposition itself as an investment destination are facing a fresh risk from escalating insecurity, as the U.S. warns citizens against travel to Africa’s most populous nation. e insecurity situation in Nigeria has worsened with Boko...

Nigeria turns wealthy lifestyle habits into tax funnel

Wealthy Nigerians are now the primary focus of a data-intensive monitoring system designed to shore up public revenue. e taxman is no longer taking declarations at face value; instead, authorities are leveraging digital footprints, luxury purchases and...

In Niger ia’s oil bir thplace, solar power sparks a new economy

The rusted derrick still stands as a monument to Nigeria’s energy sector, a subtle reminder of the day in 1956 when Shell geologists discovered the rst commercial crude oil in this tiny village surrounded by mangroves, changing the course of Africa’s...

How Nigerians endure years of economic hardship

On a sunny afternoon in Lagos, the hum of generators competes with the noise of traffic and commerce. It is a familiar soundtrack, one that captures, in many ways, the Nigerian condition: a people powering their lives, quite literally, in the absence...

From Microsoft to Music: How Addy Awofisayo is Scaling Africa’s Creative GDP

Blackout per sists as Adelabu’s 6,000M W tar get misses thr ee deadlines

When Adebayo Adelabu took o ce as Nigeria’s Minister of Power in August 2023, he promised that the country would reach 6,000 megawatts of electricity generation by the end of that year. He stated that the lights would come on. Nigerians, used to...

FT SE fr ontier upgr ade ignites Seplat, GT CO, Zenith rally

The Nigerian equities market has entered a new era of expansion, propelled by a return of global institutional confidence. Leading the charge are heavyweights such as Seplat, GTCO, and Zenith Bank, whose recent rallies have pushed the Nigerian Exchange...

Nigeria’s revenue boom masks a leak as deductions swallow 39%

Nigeria’s public finances are facing renewed scrutiny a er the World Bank warned that a growing share of federation revenues is being absorbed by deductions before funds reach federal, state and local governments, raising fresh concerns about scal...

Niger ia’s $850m for eign cloud bet leaves fintechs exposed to global shocks

Nigerian companies are spending about $850 million annually on foreign cloud services, embedding the country’s fast-growing digital economy into infrastructure located thousands of kilometres away and increasingly exposed to geopolitical risk. at risk...

Niger ia unlocks N3.3tr n to r escue power sector fr om decade of debt

President Bola Tinubu has approved a N3.3 trillion settlement plan to clear power sector debts accumulated over more than ten years, in what his administration is casting as the most decisive intervention yet in a grid that has long frustrated...

Global crisis, local pain: Iran war drives up costs, leaves Nigerians without safety nets

By all indications, the distant rumble of conflict between the United States, Israel and Iran is no longer a faraway geopolitical story. In Nigeria, it is being felt in the most immediate and personal ways, at the petrol station, in crowded buses, and...

PROFILE

Robert Ogirri, an expert in manufacturing and supply chain is committed to nurturing future leaders. He balances his professional pursuit, academic works and mentorship, a way he redefines what leadership and legacy mean in practice. Currently at the...

Flutter wave secur es Niger ian banking license to accelerate payment eff iciency

Flutterwave, Africa’s leading payments technology company, has secured a Nigerian banking license, enabling it to hold funds and deposits directly and strengthening its nancial infrastructure in its largest market. e landmark announcement comes a er...

INFORMING IMPACTFUL DECISIONS SINCE JULY 2001

Nigeria’s gas riches lure Europe, but pipelines aren’t ready

European energy o cials are scrambling for alternative suppliers after strikes on Qatarenergy’s Ras La an facility forced the company to declare force majeure on lique ed natural gas contracts with Belgium, Italy, and Poland. Nigeria consistently tops...

Niger ia’s bigger banks face cr edit test as r ecapitalisation ends

Nigeria’s banks are now bigger than ever, thanks to the sweeping recapitalisation drive by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), which has reshaped balance sheets and strengthened bu ers across the industry. But while the capital-raising cycle has...

Niger ia’s political chessboar d shifts as Kwankwaso dumps NNPP

Early political manoeuvres ahead of Nigeria’s 2027 presidential election are beginning to reshape the country’s opposition landscape, raising the prospect of a broad coalition that could mount the most serious challenge yet to President Bola Ahmed...

2027: Fragmented opposition faces fierce battle against Tinubu as APC tightens grip

Agrowing wave of defections into Nigeria’s ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has deepened concerns among political analysts that the opposition may struggle to mount a credible challenge against President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in the 2027 general...

Why Investing in Healthcare and Building Dental Institutions is Vital for Our Nation – Funmi Adeniyi

Soar ing food costs ignite malnutr ition wor r y for young childr en

A surge in food prices across Nigeria is morphing into a public health emergency, as double-digit inflation on essential proteins forces families to ration meals, compromising the development of millions of children. The cost of staples including...

Niger ia eyes textile glor y again but odds look thr eadbar e

The Federal Government’s latest push to revive Nigeria’s Cotton, Textile and Garment (CTG) sector is facing mounting scrutiny, as industry players warn that persistent insecurity in key cotton-producing states, weak agricultural foundations and a...