The Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG), a leading economic think tank in the country, has reported that despite the fact that Nigeria’s business environment stayed in the expansionary zone, the economy showed a weaker performance in March this year when compared to the preceding month’s performance.
The group, in its latest Business Confidence Monitor (BCM) for the month under review indicated that the nation’s Current Business Performance Index (BPI) eased to 101.2 points from 117.2 and 106.6 points in February 2026 and March 2025, respectively.
It reported that a further breakdown of the BPI reflected uneven performance across the five sectors in March this year as business activities slowed in Manufacturing (103.4 points from 121.1), Trade (103.8 points from 108.7), and Services (104.7 points from 109.2).
The NESG, however, disclosed that the index readings moved into the contraction region for Non-Manufacturing (98.4 points from 128.9) and Agriculture (91.1 points from 104.8) during the month.
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On its future expectations for the next one to three months, the economic think tank projected: “The Future Business Expectations Index stood at 128.0 points, down from 135.4 points in February 2026, reflecting cautious optimism about the short-term business conditions.
During the month, Trade and Manufacturing recorded the strongest levels of optimism, whereas other sectors recorded relatively weaker optimism. This cautious outlook reflects emerging energy-related cost pressures linked to rising geopolitical tensions in the Gulf region”, the NESG added.
According to the group, key BCM sub-indices, including general business situation, production, demand conditions, financial results, access to credit, cash flow, and employment, remained in the expansion territory, even though all, except trade stockpiling, were associated with weaker outcomes compared with February 2026.
It added that in contrast, export, operating profit, and supply orders sub-indices slipped into contraction in March 2026. While the overall cost of doing business eased slightly, input costs remained high.
The NESG Business Confidence Monitor (BCM) is 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.
