President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has stated that, through policy clarity and investor engagement, his administration has attracted at least $5 billion in new investments in manufacturing, fintech, and energy since taking office two years ago.
He also noted that the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC) reforms, which have been carried out, have reduced business registration timelines, digitized port operations, and simplified regulatory procedures.
Speaking on Friday at the opening ceremony of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s (LCCI) Lagos International Trade Fair 2025 (LITF) at Tafawa Balewa Square (TBS), Lagos, he vowed to continue rebuilding the economy, deepening investor confidence and championing local industry, innovation and trade.
Represented by the Minister of State for Industry, Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment (FMITI), John Owan Enoh, he described the annual fair as a symbol of Nigerian enterprise, creativity, resilience, and an unyielding belief in possibility.
Pointing out that with the global economy recalibrating and supply chains being reimagined, he said Nigeria must act with courage and clarity to define the next decade.
Hailing the private sector as the backbone of this economy; creating over 90 per cent of jobs and powering exports, he said Nigeria must not be simply a participant in the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) but lead it going forward.
He vowed to implement stable policies instead of abrupt reversals, honor contracts, provide transparent incentives for manufacturers, exporters, and MSMEs, digitalize ports, establish one-stop shops for business permits, introduce smarter taxation, and expedite dispute resolution.
Revealing that the fair is now in its 39th edition, LCCI President Gabriel Idahosa stated that the fair’s theme, ‘Connecting Businesses, Creating Value,’ is timeless and captures the core spirit of the event.
The fair, which commenced on Thursday and will continue until November 16, attracted nearly 2,000 exhibitors showcasing the best of Nigerian and African entrepreneurship and ingenuity.
Aiming for 500,000 visitors during the ten days, Idahosa said their objective is to facilitate business networking, open new market opportunities, and establish partnerships to create value across the economy.
He noted that there has already been a direct injection of ₦250 million into the local economy and the employment of 280 local artisans, demonstrating a significant initial economic stimulus.
With over 200 exhibitors from both China, represented by the United Asia International Exhibition Co., Ltd, and the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO), as well as hundreds from Ghana and other parts of Africa, the president urged Nigerian businesses and entrepreneurs to seize the opportunity to network with these international exhibitors, initiate distributorship deals, and foster trade agreements that will enhance their business value chains and diversify their product offerings.
In his keynote address, Lagos state governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, who was represented by the State’s Commissioner for Commerce, Cooperatives, Trade, and Investment, Folashade Bada Ambrose-Medebem, hailed the city as a microcosm of Africa’s entrepreneurial spirit and a place where commerce thrives against all odds.
Stressing that, in a bid to support commerce, trade, and investment, he stated that the state has simplified investment procedures through a one-stop business facilitation center, strengthened land and trade documentation processes, and improved access to transparent data for investors.
Noting that the state is also expanding its industrial zones and clusters, which he said are rapidly becoming magnets for local and foreign investors, he added that this will ensure manufacturers, exporters, and service providers operate in well-serviced, secure, and cost-efficient environments.
He also revealed that over 50,000 MSMEs have received direct financial support in the last two years, with most growing to become exporters, franchise owners, and major players in the value chain.
Urging the exhibitors to treat the fair as a launchpad for enterprise, trade, and commitment to shared prosperity, he called for more investment in the state, adding that the state was always willing and ready to support trade and investment in every possible way.
Nigeria’s headline inflation rate eased further in November 2025, dropping to 14.45 per cent year on year, according to the latest Consumer Price Index report released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
The report, published on the NBS website on Monday, showed that while consumer prices continued to rise every month, annual inflation moderated significantly under the new base year.
According to the NBS, the Consumer Price Index increased to 130.5 points in November 2025 from 128.9 points in October, representing a 1.6-point rise month on month.
“The Consumer Price Index rose to 130.5 in November 2025, reflecting a 1.6-point increase from the preceding month (128.9),” the bureau stated.
However, the headline inflation rate declined to 14.45 per cent year on year, compared with 16.05 per cent recorded in October 2025.
“In November 2025, the Headline inflation rate eased to 14.45 per cent relative to the October 2025 headline inflation rate of 16.05 per cent.
“Looking at the movement, the November 2025 Headline inflation rate showed a decrease of 1.6 per cent compared to the October 2025 Headline inflation rate,” the report added.
Naija News understands that on a month-on-month basis, headline inflation stood at 1.22 per cent in November, higher than the 0.93 per cent recorded in October, indicating that average prices increased at a faster pace during the month despite the moderation in annual inflation.
The NBS noted that headline inflation in November 2025 was 20.15 percentage points lower than the 34.60 per cent recorded in November 2024, largely reflecting the impact of the rebasing exercise, with the new base year set at 2024 instead of 2009.
Data from the report showed that the average CPI for the twelve months ending November 2025 rose by 20.41 per cent compared with the average of the preceding twelve months, a sharp slowdown from the 32.77 per cent recorded in November 2024.
Food and non-alcoholic beverages remained the largest contributor to headline inflation on a year-on-year basis, accounting for 5.78 percentage points. This was followed by restaurants and accommodation services at 1.87 percentage points and transport at 1.54 percentage points.
Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels contributed 1.22 percentage points, while education services and health accounted for 0.90 and 0.88 percentage points, respectively.
At the month-on-month level, food and non-alcoholic beverages also drove price increases, contributing 0.49 percentage points, followed by restaurants and accommodation services at 0.16 percentage points and transport at 0.13 percentage points.
A breakdown by location showed that urban inflation stood at 13.61 per cent year on year in November 2025, a decline of 23.49 percentage points from the 37.10 per cent recorded in November 2024.
On a month-on-month basis, urban inflation slowed to 0.95 per cent from 1.14 per cent in October, while the twelve-month average urban inflation rate eased to 20.80 per cent.
In contrast, rural inflation was higher at 15.15 per cent year on year in November, although this was still 17.12 percentage points lower than the 32.27 per cent recorded in the corresponding period of 2024.
Month-on-month rural inflation, however, accelerated sharply to 1.88 per cent from 0.45 per cent in October, reflecting stronger price pressures in rural areas during the month.
Food inflation also moderated significantly on an annual basis. The NBS reported that food inflation stood at 11.08 per cent year on year in November 2025, down by 28.85 percentage points from the 39.93 per cent recorded in November 2024.
However, month-on-month food inflation rose to 1.13 per cent from a contraction of 0.37 per cent in October.
The increase was driven by higher prices of items such as dried tomatoes, cassava tubers, shelled periwinkle, ground pepper, eggs, crayfish, egusi, oxtail and fresh onions.
The average annual food inflation rate for the twelve months ending November 2025 was 19.68 per cent, compared with 38.67 per cent in the same period of 2024.
Core inflation, which excludes volatile agricultural produce and energy prices, stood at 18.04 per cent year on year in November 2025, down from 28.75 per cent in November 2024.
On a month-on-month basis, core inflation eased slightly to 1.28 per cent from 1.42 per cent in October, while the twelve-month average core inflation rate fell to 20.76 per cent.
Other sub-indices showed that farm produce inflation rose to 0.79 per cent in November from zero per cent in October, while energy inflation increased to 1.08 per cent from 0.50 per cent.
Services inflation rose to 1.82 per cent from 1.54 per cent, and goods inflation increased to 0.79 per cent from 0.63 per cent in the previous month.
At the state level, Rivers recorded the highest year-on-year all-items inflation rate at 17.78 per cent, followed by Ogun at 17.65 per cent and Ekiti at 16.77 per cent.
Plateau recorded the lowest year-on-year inflation rate at 9.13 per cent, alongside Kebbi at 10.32 per cent and Katsina at 10.60 per cent.
On a month-on-month basis, Bayelsa recorded the highest increase at 6.58 per cent, followed by Gombe at 5.11 per cent and Edo at 4.45 per cent, while Plateau, Delta and Kaduna recorded declines.
Food inflation data showed that Kogi recorded the highest year-on-year increase at 17.83 per cent, followed by Ogun at 16.52 per cent and Rivers at 16.11 per cent.
Imo, Katsina and Akwa Ibom recorded the slowest rise in food prices on a year-on-year basis. Month-on-month food inflation was highest in Yobe at 9.52 per cent, followed by Katsina at 6.61 per cent and Ondo at 6.04 per cent, while Imo, Nasarawa and Enugu recorded declines.
The NBS cautioned that interstate comparisons should be interpreted carefully, noting that CPI weights differ across states based on consumption patterns, which could make direct comparisons of inflation baskets misleading.
Barring any last-minute change, MRS and other partners of the Dangote Petroleum Refinery are set to begin selling petrol at N739 per litre.
This comes two days after the refinery slashed its petrol gantry price from N828 to N699 per litre. Speaking at a press briefing at the Lekki refinery on Sunday, the President of the Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, said he was aware that despite lower gantry prices, some filling stations often choose to keep pump prices high, thereby sabotaging his efforts.
According to him, MRS would commence the sale of petrol at N739 per litre from Tuesday, while other partners would follow. Dangote alleged that some officials had met with certain marketers and encouraged them to keep prices high in order to frustrate the price reduction, stressing that he would fight to enforce the new price regime.
“I was told that the marketers have met with (some officials) and were told to make sure that the price is maintained high. But this price we are going to introduce, we are going to start with MRS stations most likely on Tuesday in Lagos; that N970 per litre, you won’t see it again. We have also asked members of IPMAN to come now.
We have asked anybody who can buy 10 trucks to come and buy 10 trucks at N699.
“We are going to use whatever resources that we have to make sure that we crash the price down. We will get these sales; maybe it will take us a week to 10 days. But first of all, within a week to 10 days, we will be able to deliver. For this December and January, we don’t want people to sell petrol for more than N740 nationwide. Those who want to keep the price to sabotage the government, we will fight as much as we can to make sure that these prices are down. That’s not the price. If you have money to come and buy, you can pick up petrol at N699,” he said.
Dangote said transporting petrol from the refinery costs no more than N15 per litre, questioning why pump prices would rise as high as N900 per litre. He also accused the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority of issuing 47 import licences to bring in more than seven billion litres of petrol in the first quarter of 2026, a move he said was killing local investments.
“Freight within Lagos is N10 or N15, maximum. So if it’s N10 to N15, everything is going to cost you N715. Why do you want to sell at N900? People should get the real price. I cannot come now and take the hit. Did we make money? No, we didn’t make money. But as we speak now, even our tanks are full because the NMDPRA has issued reckless licences. And we have to now go and complain to the government.
“They normally issue licenses in the middle of the month. So, they are now ready to issue licences for about 7.5 billion litres for the first quarter of 2026, despite the fact that we have guaranteed to supply enough quantity.
“If you are talking about monopoly, did we stop anybody? They issued 47 licenses. Let those people come and put up a refinery here, or let them go and buy even NNPC’s and operate them. If it’s profitable, they should go and do that now. NNPC was the only business that was bringing in fuel before.
“Now, we are the only one and one of the few modular refineries that are producing. Those modular refineries, I can tell you for nothing that they are almost on the verge of collapse. None of them is making a dime,” he added.
The billionaire businessman assured Nigerians that the N739 per litre price would be enforced, beginning with MRS stations on Tuesday. “Starting from Tuesday, MRS will start selling petrol at N739/litre. Definitely, we will enforce that low price. We will make sure that it’s implemented. If you have your truck, you can come here and buy it. We are selling at N699. The N699 includes the percentage of NMDPRA. So what actually comes out to us is about N389 or so,” he stated.
Contacted for his reaction, the NMDPRA spokesman, George Ene-Ita, said, “For now, no comment.”
The Nigerian Naira displayed a mixed performance against the US Dollar on Friday, December 12, 2025. While the official window of the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market (NFEM) maintained a familiar trading band, the parallel market witnessed a marginal appreciation for the Naira, reducing the market’s premium slightly.
Trading activities in the official NFEM, which includes the Investors’ and Exporters’ (I&E) Window, indicated a slight movement in the benchmark rate compared to the previous day’s close.
NFEM Closing Rate (December 12): ₦1,449.38 per US Dollar (Based on early morning data and previous day’s trends).
NFEM Highest Intraday Rate: The dollar was traded at a high of approximately ₦1,452.50.
NFEM Lowest Intraday Rate: The Naira touched its strongest point for the day at about ₦1,449.38.
The relatively tight band in the official market reflects the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) continued intervention efforts and liquidity management strategies aimed at fostering stability for importers and formal businesses.
Parallel Market (Black Market) Rate
In the unofficial parallel market, widely used for cash transactions and personal transfers, the Naira showed a minor gain, reversing a recent weakening trend.
Parallel Market Buying Rate: ₦1,475.00 per US Dollar
Parallel Market Selling Rate: ₦1,485.00 per US Dollar
This parallel market range of ₦1,475 – ₦1,485 indicates a premium of approximately ₦25.62 to ₦35.62 when compared to the official NFEM closing rate of ₦1,449.38.
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