Industry

As the country grapples with the consequences of recent economic challenges, Nigeria’s fast-moving consumer goods (FMCGs) market has proven fairly resilient in 2015 and 2016, with consumers retreating to low-cost staples as their spending power diminishes. “Expensive alternatives are now less attractive, and lower-priced products are filling...

One of the most visible policy moves by Nigerian authorities in 2016 has been to limit access to foreign currency in the country. The decision to institute capital controls was rolled out as a result of low oil prices, which have led to a drop in dollar-denominated export revenues and put the naira under increasing pressure. To limit the need...

The industrial sector of what is arguably Africa’s largest economy is a diversified group of producers and outputs, ranging from the large-scale cement plants of Dangote Group, the continent’s largest cement producer, to cottage industries such as plantain chips. With a wide range of accessible feedstock, from agricultural products to...

The global trend towards more open trade has in recent years faced a number of setbacks, ranging from stalled World Trade Organisation talks to rising protectionism and the UK’s vote to leave the EU. Nigeria is no exception, where a push to increase import substitution, which is intended to reverse a decline in foreign exchange and reduce the...

The popular “Africa Rising” narrative has largely been predicated on the emergence of a growing middle class on the continent, providing a steady rise in consumer demand to go with the increased export receipts and lower public debt burdens seen across Africa. But with oil prices falling since mid-2014, along with a rising US dollar and...