Small-scale businesses and industries are expressing displeasure about the impact of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s economic reforms, which are raising further concerns about the negative effects on their operations.
This is a sharp contrast to the latest comment by Aliko Dangote, Chairman of the Dangote Group, who has praised the reforms of the current administration led by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Dangote has praised the reform efforts of Tinubu’s administration, noting specifically that the ‘Naira-for-Crude initiative and the Nigeria First Policy’ as bold, transformative steps capable of reviving the economy.
Dangote stressed that these reform initiatives brought a measure of stability to the naira-dollar exchange rate.
He further said that the government reforms improved market predictability and have helped investors make sound business decisions, and restored confidence in the investment climate.
“We are also beginning to see some stability in the naira-to-dollar exchange rate, which has a positive impact. There are now fewer fluctuations, and this has brought a degree of predictability to the market.
“For those of us in the business sector, this is a welcome development, as it allows us to plan more effectively. Looking ahead, we can expect to see a more favourable rate,” Dangote said in a statement issued.
Tinubu’s policies and the economic cost to Nigerians
Tinubu made fuel subsidy removal and foreign exchange liberalisation a key focus of his administration, which has had a huge impact on the cost of living and rising inflation. Since the foreign exchange devaluation, many Nigerians have had to battle rising inflation, the cost of food, medical expenses, and other sundry expenses.
Businesses, particularly those in the small-scale category, are currently facing a significant increase in borrowing costs, with commercial bank lending rates approaching 35 per cent.
Affirming the rising cost of borrowing, the latest report by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has disclosed that Nigerians ranked high interest rates as the most severe constraint affecting their operations in June 2025, overtaking long-standing challenges such as insecurity and poor electricity supply.
The apex bank disclosed this in its June 2025 Business Expectations Survey, which polled 1,900 firms across the agriculture, services, and industrial sectors. According to the report, high interest rates scored 75.6 on the constraint index, followed by insecurity at 75.2 and insufficient power supply at 74.3.
“Respondents identified High interest rate (75.6), Insecurity (75.2), and Insufficient power supply (74.3) as the top three business constraints in June 2025, highlighting concerns around factors that directly impact operational stability and profitability,” the CBN stated in the report.
It’s not just businesses feeling the impact. A survey by The ICIR reveals that medicine prices have surged even more sharply than food prices, driven largely by Nigeria’s currency devaluation. Some medications that sold for less than N10,000 per pack in April 2023 now cost as much as N55,000 per pack.
Further checks by The ICIR showed that a packet of malaria drugs, which cost N500 in April 2023, now costs as much as N6,000, and a box of 100 tablets of Panadol now costs as much as N5,000, from N1,000 in April 2023.
A 20-plastic-bottle pack of Nestlé water, which sold for N800 in April 2023, now sells for N4,000, and a crate of 30 eggs, which sold for N750 in April 2023, now sells for N8,000.
Available data from the domestic commodities price from Finance Derivative Company(FDC) shows 50 kilogramme (kg) of garri currently sells of N46,000, 50 kg of rice long grain sells for N85,000,50 kg of flour sells for N62,000,50 kg of beans currently sells for N150,000,50 kg tomato sells for N60,000, 50 kg of onions sells for N115,000 while plantain bunch sells for N7,000.
Tales of woes for small businesses
From corner shops to innovative startups, and from salons to small factories, many small businesses are struggling to keep their head above water. This is largely due to the high cost of doing business.
For instance, bread is almost going out of the reach of an average Nigerian with the rising cost of production, and rising electricity tariffs impacting production costs.
President of Premium Bread Makers Association of Nigeria (PBAN), Emmanuel Obiorah, who reacted to the economic impact of President Tinubu’s reforms, said the President has offered a moratorium on flour, wheat, and dough import, but the cost of production is eroding it.
He said, “The President offered us a moratorium on the importation of wheat, dough, flour, and some other raw materials. This helped our production. However, the energy cost rise wiped all of them out.
“Energy costs for some of us in band A went up so high, and yet we can’t see the light. We had to resort to using diesel for our baking business. Can you imagine someone’s energy cost rising from N1 million to N15 million in a month because of Band A classification?” he asked.
He stressed that despite the rising electricity costs, the supply had been poor, as most bakers had to rely on diesel to sustain their businesses.
The concerns raised by the premium bread makers are not different from those of a restaurant manager who spoke to The ICIR.
For Oluchi Mgbemena, a restaurant manager in Kubwa, a suburb on in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), the rising cost of foodstuffs has brought an unexpected sense of predictability to her home-based business.
“The prices of foodstuffs are not stable currently. You buy a kilogram of meat this week, next week, the price changes, same with one mudu of crayfish, Egwusi, and Ogbono, and even beans.
“What we did was to peg our food price at N2,500 per plate. Most of my customers, especially artisans and low-income earners, are complaining about this, but there’s little I can do as a manager. We cannot control rising cost of food prices, they are susceptible to market forces,” she stated.
Nigeria’s food inflation is worsening, and rising food inflation and insecurity in Nigeria’s food-belt have failed to solve the crisis. The cost of food in Nigeria increased 21.97 percent in June of 2025 over the same month in the previous year.
Policy concerns by the Chamber of Commerce
In May 2025, the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry, LCCI, said reforms by the President Tinubu administration, despite being bold, have imposed short-term hardships on businesses and households, particularly Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs), which remain the backbone of the Nigerian economy.
Chinyere Almona nDG at LCCI.
“These measures have also imposed short-term hardships on businesses and households, particularly SMEs, which remain the backbone of the Nigerian economy,” the Director-General of Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), Chinyere Almona, said.
Commenting on the country’s macroeconomic outlook in an event to mark President Tinubu’s second anniversary, she said, inflation remained a critical challenge due to fuel subsidy removal and foreign exchange liberalisation.
She stressed that while the government’s reforms improve the fiscal Outlook, they increased the business operating expenses, particularly logistics, processing, and retail SMEs.
Almona said the current macroeconomic landscape reflected a nation in transition.
“There are also growing concerns about policy coordination. While monetary authorities target inflation, fiscal policy expands through borrowing and recurrent expenditure.
“This divergence has weakened the impact of economic interventions,” she said.
She suggested better policy coordination between monetary and fiscal policy to realise a better business environment.
She notes the need for the Central Bank of Nigeria, the Ministry of Finance, and the development finance to work in tandem to manage inflation without stifling productive investment.
She also advocated improved infrastructure, expanded social safety nets, promotion of local content, and sustained reforms in the foreign exchange market.
Harrison Edeh is a journalist with the International Centre for Investigative Reporting, always determined to drive advocacy for good governance through holding public officials and businesses accountable.