Research Document: NESG Stanbic IBTC Business Confidence Monitor for May 2025

Posted Sun, Jun 1, 2025 4:51 PM

The Business Confidence Monitor (BCM) is the flagship survey-based report of the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG), supported by Stanbic IBTC. The report obtains qualitative information on the current business performance within the Nigerian economy and gauges expectations about overall economic activities in the short term. It is anchored on business managers’ optimism on key leading economic indicators such as investment, prices, demand conditions, employment, etc.

Businesses in Nigeria maintained a positive performance streak for the fifth consecutive month in 2025, as reflected in the May 2025 results of the Business Performance Index.

The Current Business Performance Index for May 2025 stands at +9.78, signalling mildly positive business activity, though slightly lower than the +12.29 recorded in April 2025.

Over the past three months, the key business challenges ranking has been largely unchanged. Persistent power supply shortages continue to be the most significant constraint on business growth, followed by limited access to finance, high commercial lease and rental costs, and restricted availability of foreign exchange.