November 18, 2025/CSL Report

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has released its Business Expectations Survey (BES) for October 2025, providing insights into the outlook across key sectors—Industry, Services, and Agriculture. The findings show sustained optimism about Nigeria’s macroeconomic prospects, with the overall business confidence index rising to 38.5 points in October from 31.5 points in September 2025.

Looking ahead, businesses anticipate further improvement in sentiment, with confidence levels projected to increase to 45.6 points in November, 52.3 points in January 2026, and 52.5 points by April 2026. These indices represent businesses’ expectations regarding changes in various aspects of their operations in the months ahead.

A confidence index above 0.0 signifies positive sentiment toward business activities, while a value below 0.0 indicates a negative outlook.

The October 2025 survey showed sustained positive sentiment across all sectors regarding short-term business activity, with the industry sector recording the highest level of optimism. Respondent firms also anticipated a stronger Naira, reflecting growing confidence in the Central Bank of Nigeria’s ongoing efforts to enhance transparency and stability in the foreign exchange market.

Across sectors, businesses remained optimistic about job creation and expansion opportunities. A closer look at sector-specific expectations reveals that the construction sector holds the strongest employment prospects, while the mining & quarrying sector is expected to lead near-term business expansion.

Despite the positive outlook, respondents identified several critical challenges affecting business operations in October 2025. The most pressing concerns were insecurity, insufficient power supply, and high taxes. Other notable constraints were high interest rates, high bank charges and unfavourable economic climate. Recent data also supports the improving business sentiment.

The CBN’s Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) rose to 55.4 points in October compared to the 54.0 points ecorded in September 2025, indicating expansion in business activities across multiple sectors and reflecting steady progress towards economic recovery.

Click here to download full report: ​​​​​​​​CSL Nigeria Daily – 18 November 2025 – Economy .pdf​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​