By Bamidele Famoofo
WorldStage– Though the business climate in Africa’s most populous nation remains upbeat with Business Confidence Index (BCI) closing at 7.2 percent in June, poor access to credit by businesses is a huge limiting factor to sustainable growth.
BCI is a scorecard for how optimistic or pessimistic businesses are feeling about the economy.
The latest BCI report released by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), showed that the Index stood at 7.2 points in June 2026, signaling continued optimistic sentiment among formal businesses.
Respondents’ positive sentiment was largely underpinned by economic diversification (38.3%) and expansionary fiscal policy (16.2%), while more cautious views were primarily driven by ongoing energy-related challenges (23.4%) and elevated geopolitical uncertainties (16.5%).
However, the Financial Condition Index and Credit Access Index were lower but positive, suggesting that business confidence remains positive, though financing conditions and access to credit still need attention.
Financial experts are of the opinion that the successful recapitalization exercise by the banking industry should have a positive impact on lending to businesses, arguing that it is only way to achieve the dream of a $1trillion economy targeted by the Federal Government.
Meanwhile, the overall outlook across all sectors remained positive in June 2026, with the agriculture sector recording a slight improvement in May, rising from 9.4 to 12.2 index points. Conversely, the Industry sector moderated from 12.5 to 10.9 index points, while Services slowed from 4.6 in the preceding month to 2.9 index points.
The outlook over the next six months remains strong, with confidence indices in all sectors reflecting positive sentiment over the review periods.
The macroeconomic outlook for the current month reflects a divergence in regional sentiment, with respondents in the North expressing stronger confidence relative to those in the South.
All regions expressed positive expectations for next month, except for the South-East and South-South. Over the three- and six-month horizons, optimism was reported across all regions, with the North-East expressing the highest level of optimism.
All sectors expressed optimism regarding their own business operations during the review month, with the Mining and Quarrying sector recording the highest optimism index of 42.9 points.
The Volume of Business Activity Index recorded the highest confidence level, followed by the Volume of Total Orders Index, indicating that respondents remain optimistic about business activity and order inflows.
Expectations for the volume of business activity remained positive for the next month and subsequent periods, indicating prospects for continued expansion in economic activity.
Sectoral analysis indicates that the Mining & Quarrying sector posted the highest expansion outlook at 84.6 index points.
Nonetheless, employment expectations in July 2026 were generally cautious across sectors, with the Mining & Quarrying sector exhibiting the least optimistic hiring outlook.
