FMDA projects inflation creeping back to 16.42%
For eleven consecutive months, Nigeria’s inflation rate moved in one direction: down, from a peak of 27.4% to a five-year low.
FG braces investors for N600bn bond auction next week
Nigeria’s federal government is returning to the domestic debt market with a fresh bond offering that carries notable signals for fixed-income investors. The Debt Management Office published its May 2026 offer circular on May 12, outlining plans to raise N600 billion through two reopened instruments. The auction is scheduled for May 18 with settlement on […]
Tinubu reveals Nigeria will spend $11.6bn on debt service in 2026
Nigeria will hand over roughly $11.6 billion to creditors this year, a sum that swallows nearly half of everything the government expects to collect in revenue. President Bola Tinubu put that number on the record at an international summit in Nairobi on May 12, 2026. The disclosure was not buried in a budget document or […]
Nestlé and NB surge to profit as FX storm fades
For nearly two years, Nestlé Nigeria Plc and Nigerian Breweries Plc bled cash at a pace that spooked even seasoned Lagos investors. Foreign exchange chaos wiped hundreds of billions of naira off their bottom lines and forced both to suspend dividends. That picture has flipped with startling speed, and the numbers landing on the Nigerian […]
CBN forex window sees naira inch toward ₦1,350 mark
At the start of 2026, most of Nigeria’s top economists expected the naira to trade between ₦1,430 and ₦1,500 against the dollar. A few optimistic voices floated ₦1,350 as a best case, but the consensus treated it as aspirational. Five months later, the official Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market has delivered a number that those forecasters […]
Zenith Bank targets 20% loan growth after masked 2025
On the surface, Zenith Bank’s 2025 loan book barely moved, expanding by a mere 0.6% over the full financial year. For investors scanning annual reports, that number looked like stagnation from one of Nigeria’s most prominent Tier-1 lenders. According to a fresh equity research note from CardinalStone, the real story was buried beneath a regulatory […]
Unilever Nigeria’s N32.2bn profit rewrites its five-year streak
Five years ago, Unilever Nigeria posted N3.4 billion in after-tax profit, a modest figure for one of the country’s oldest manufacturers. Since then, every single financial year has delivered a higher number than the one before it. The 2025 result broke the pattern wide open. After-tax profit landed at N32.2 billion, more than double the […]
Dangote eyes $50bn valuation in bold refinery listing
Africa’s biggest single industrial bet is heading for its biggest financial test, and the price tag attached to it has nearly doubled. Less than a year ago, the Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals FZE was valued in the $20 billion to $25 billion range by most analysts. The figure now being pitched to global investors […]
FUGAZ banks set aside N153bn for Q1 loan losses
Nigeria’s five biggest tier-one lenders just released their first quarter 2026 financial statements, and the impairment numbers tell a striking story. Combined provisions on customer loans across First HoldCo, United Bank for Africa, Guaranty Trust, Access Holdings, and Zenith reached roughly N153 billion in the period. That figure runs about 36% above what the same […]
CAP Plc sits on a N13 billion cash pile after Q1
When a paint company’s bank balance grows faster than its revenue, investors tend to pay attention. Chemical and Allied Products Plc closed the first quarter of 2026 with cash and cash equivalents totaling N12.99 billion, a 69% year-on-year increase that accounts for roughly half of its total asset base. If you hold CAP shares or […]