The Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG), Nigeria’s leading economic think tank group has reported that the country’s current Business Performance Index stood at 112.7 points in August this year, up from 108.6 and 107.3 points in July 2026 and August 2025, respectively.
The group attributed improved BPI to sustained expansion across sectors, with Manufacturing recording the strongest business performance.
It noted that despite this expansion, many industry players continued to face constraints during the month, especially inadequate power supply, limited access to financing, elevated rental costs, insecurity, and infrastructural challenges, which heightened cost pressures.
In its latest NESG Business Confidence Monitor (BCM), a survey-based report that presents qualitative information on the current business sentiment within the Nigerian economy and gauges expectations about overall economic activities in the short term, published in September 2026, the group provided insights into the country’s business performance in August 2026.
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The NESG further clarified: “All sectors remained in expansion territory, although Non-Manufacturing eased from July’s pace while Agriculture held broadly steady.
“Key BCM sub-indices, including general business situation, demand conditions, export, financial results, access to credit, cash flow, and employment, remained in expansion territory and registered stronger performance relative to July 2026.
“Production, operating profit, and supply order softened slightly but stayed in expansion. Investment remained in the contraction region, albeit less severely than in the previous month. Notably, the trade stockpiling index surged in August as businesses built up inventories ahead of back-to-school shopping, supported by firm consumer demand.
“Moreover, the Cost of Doing Business and Prices sub-indices remained below the neutral 100- point threshold at 56.7 and 58.7 points respectively — indicating that a net majority of firms still reported rising costs and producer prices. Both readings fell from their previous month’s levels, suggesting cost and price pressures intensified further in August 2026”, the group added.
The group also assessed Nigerian businesses’ near-term outlook over the next 1 to 3 months.
It reported that in August 2026, the index stood at 129.3 points, up from 128.3 points in July 2026, reflecting improved optimism about short-term business conditions. This is even as it added that in the month, sentiment was uneven across sectors.
The NESG highlighted that the Manufacturing (161.2 points) overtook Trade (149.2 points) as the sector with the strongest optimism, Agriculture (128.4 points) recorded the sharpest improvement in sentiment, edging past Services (121.9 points), which exhibited the lowest level of optimism.
It stated: “The overall positive outlook could reflect expectations of favourable harvests and increased pre-election spending as campaigns intensify, which are expected to stimulate consumer demand and boost activity across many sectors in the months ahead.”
