The CBN Survey on Businesses

The latest Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Business Expectations Survey paints a grim picture for Nigerian businesses, revealing a landscape fraught with multifaceted challenges. From large corporations to Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), businesses are grappling with escalating operational costs, burdensome multiple taxation, and a pervasive sense of insecurity. The survey, conducted in March 2026, underscores that the long-standing issues of poor electricity supply and escalating insecurity have become the most severe impediments to business operations across the nation.

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Respondents identified insufficient power supply (74.5), insecurity (70.9), high/multiple taxes (69.2), high interest rate (66.6), and financial problems (64.3) as the top five business constraints in March 2026, highlighting factors that directly impact operational stability and profitability.

The findings are stark: insufficient power supply (74.5%) and insecurity (70.9%) top the list of business constraints, followed closely by high/multiple taxes (69.2%), high interest rates (66.6%), and financial problems (64.3%). These factors directly impact operational stability and profitability, creating a hostile ecosystem for enterprise. The report's recommendations for improvements in energy supply, security conditions, and the regulatory/financial environment are crucial, yet the entrenched nature of these problems suggests a long and arduous road ahead.

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Overall, the findings in the review period highlight the need for improvements in energy supply, security conditions, and the regulatory/financial environment to enhance business stability and profitability.

The pervasive insecurity, characterized by the brazen targeting of military officers and the routine nature of kidnapping for ransom, not only dims the local economy but also actively deters foreign investment. The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) estimates that Nigeria has lost trillions of Naira due to criminal activities. Beyond the quantifiable economic losses, the human cost is immeasurable: millions displaced, children's lives cut short, and countless individuals pushed into poverty. The deployment of military troops across the country, in a nation not at war with external forces but with itself, further exacerbates the situation. The current state of affairs, particularly the attacks on rural communities, has driven many citizens into a Hobbesian existence where life is brutish and short, compounding the impact on their livelihoods and making even basic activities like farming nearly impossible.

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The insecurity that pervades the entire country is not only dimming the local economy but also scaring away foreign investments and increasing the cost of doing business.