By Onwe Wisdom| Pan Afric Reporters
Nigeria’s economic trajectory is set for firmer stability and stronger growth in 2025 and beyond, according to fresh projections presented by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) during a high-level engagement with the Senate Committee on Banking, Insurance, and Other Financial Institutions on Thursday.
The CBN Governor, Olayemi Cardoso, who led the statutory monetary policy briefing at the National Assembly, said ongoing reforms are “resetting the economy on a sustainable path,” with macroeconomic indicators showing clear signs of resilience and consolidation.
Committee Chairman, Senator Adetokunbo Abiru (Lagos East), praised the apex bank for its policy consistency, describing the latest economic metrics as evidence of “remarkable macroeconomic stabilisation” compared to the Committee’s last oversight session in July.
Abiru urged the CBN to “stay the course” as the country enters the 2026 fiscal cycle, noting that the reforms have drawn attention from global rating institutions.
According to him, recent upgrades and favourable outlooks by Fitch Ratings and S&P Global underscore the credibility of Nigeria’s policy direction and the recovery underway.
Cardoso disclosed that Nigeria’s real GDP grew by 3.98% in Q3 2025, outperforming the 3.86% recorded in the corresponding quarter of 2024. Although slightly lower than Q2 2025, the governor emphasised that the expansion remains “broad-based and resilient.”
He identified crop production, ICT, real estate, and financial services as the primary growth drivers, reflecting both improved productivity and increased private-sector participation.
One of the most significant improvements, according to the CBN, is the steep drop in inflation. Headline inflation fell to 16.05% in October 2025, its lowest in three years, after reaching a painful high of 34.6% last November.
Food inflation also decelerated dramatically to 13.12% in October, down from 21.87% just two months earlier.
“This steady disinflation is restoring real purchasing power for households and businesses,” Cardoso said, adding that the bank remains committed to achieving single-digit inflation over the medium term.
The governor reported significant improvement in the foreign exchange market, which had been one of Nigeria’s most fragile economic points in recent years.
- The exchange rate gap between the official and parallel markets has narrowed to below 2%, from over 60% in 2024.
- The naira appreciated to N1,442.92/$ at the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market (NFEM) as of November 26, up from N1,551.08/$ in the first half of the year.
- Nigeria’s external reserves have surged to $46.7 billion, the highest level in nearly seven years, providing 10.3 months of import cover.
- Diaspora remittances climbed by 66.7%, rising from an average of $200 million to about $600 million monthly.
- The CBN has fully cleared the $7 billion verified FX backlog, a longstanding burden that had discouraged foreign investors.
Cardoso described these outcomes as “clear evidence that confidence is returning to the FX market.”
Looking toward the medium term, the CBN governor said the outlook for 2026 is “even more positive,” supported by Nigeria’s rising influence in the digital financial ecosystem.
He highlighted Nigeria’s status as one of Africa’s most sophisticated digital payments markets and home to eight of the continent’s nine fintech unicorns, a competitive advantage he believes will fuel growth and innovation.
