The Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG), has reported that Nigeria’s business environment sustained expansionary trend in in June this year, though growth slowed when compared with the performance in the corresponding month of 2025, as high operating costs, limited credit and infrastructure challenges continued to put pressure on businesses.
The think-tank group, in its just published ‘June 2026 Business Confidence Monitor (BCM)’ report, disclosed that the Current Business Performance Index (BFI) remained unchanged at 104.6 points in June, the same level recorded in May this year.
However, the NESG noted that the BFI reading was significantly lower than the 113.6 points recorded in June 2025, indicating a slower pace of business expansion despite improvements across several sectors.
The BCM also reflected that while manufacturing, agriculture, non-manufacturing and trade remained in expansion territory, the services sector contracted in the month under review.
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The NESG stated: “The NESG Business Confidence Monitor (BCM) Current Business Performance Index was unchanged at 104.6 points relative to May 2026, but this marked a significant decline from 113.6 points in June 2025.”
According to the BCM report, Manufacturing and Trade sectors remained in expansion in June this year, although both sectors performed weaker when compared with the previous month’s record.
The group also reported that Agriculture and Non-manufacturing sectors expanded in June while the Services sector contracted during the month.
The NESG maintained that key business indicators, including production, demand, operating profit, financial performance, supply orders, cash flow, employment and access to credit expanded in the month, although investment and exports depressed while trade stockpiling contracted.
The economic think-tank group observed that businesses continued to face significant challenges, including limited access to finance, persistent electricity shortages, rising rental costs and insecurity, even as the cost of doing business moderated slightly.
A further analysis of the BCM report’s findings showed that Agriculture returned to expansion as its Business Confidence Index rose to 103.9 points from 97.5 points in May, supported by early harvests and sustained rainfall that boosted crop production. However, livestock and forestry activities remained under pressure.
For instance, Manufacturing sustained its expansionary trend at 106.4 points, though down from 114.1 points in May and 123.6 points a year earlier while Textile, Apparel and Footwear improved, while Food, Beverage and Tobacco, Cement, Plastic and Rubber Products, and Basic Metals recorded weaker performance.
The Non-manufacturing sector rebounded with an index reading of 106.8 points, driven by stronger activity in construction and crude petroleum, although oil and gas services contracted during the month under review.
This is even as the BCM revealed that the Services sector slipped into contraction with an index of 98.5 points, weighed down by weaker performance across financial institutions, telecoms, real estate and broadcasting, while the Trade sector expanded to 102.0 points, although wholesale activity slowed and retail trade contracted in June this year.
The NESG identified elevated financing costs, erratic electricity supply, infrastructure deficiencies, insecurity and regulatory uncertainties as major constraints to investment with the attendant negative implications for lower profit margins and weakened employment growth across the various sectors of the economy.
