By Adedapo Adesanya

Nigeria’s headline inflation rate eased to 20.12 per cent in August 2025, marking a fifth straight month of decline, from the 21.88 per cent recorded in July 2025.

This is according to the latest figures released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Monday.

On a month-on-month basis, the headline inflation stood at 0.74 per cent in August, reflecting a moderation compared to previous months.

Food inflation rose by 1.65 per cent month-on-month, underscoring persistent pressures in the prices of staple items despite the overall slowdown in inflation.

The development is lower than analysts expectations, although they agreed that trends indicate that the country will continue to see cooling inflation.

Analysts at Afrinvest West Africa had projected that Nigeria’s headline inflation will ease further to 21.3 per cent year-on-year in August 2025, supported by foreign exchange (FX) stability, early harvest inflows, and relatively subdued global commodity prices.

However, they cautioned that persistent food supply constraints and seasonal factors are likely to sustain upward pressure on monthly inflation.

The firm noted that Nigeria’s inflation trajectory has shown signs of moderation, with the headline rate easing for the fourth consecutive month in July.

The figure slowed to 21.9 per cent year-on-year from 22.2 per cent in June, broadly in line with Afrinvest’s forecast of 21.6 per cent.

The decline was largely attributed to a softer core inflation reading, which dropped to 21.4 per cent y/y in July from 22.4 per cent the previous month.

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Vice President of Nigeria, Mr Kashim Shettima, has directed the Presidential Food Systems Coordinating Unit (PFSCU) to expedite action on the disbursement of the federal government’s N250 billion credit support for smallholder farmers at a single-digit interest rate.

Mr Shettima gave the directive during the 6th meeting of the PFSCU Steering Committee, held at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, tasking the unit to come up with an implementation roadmap for the disbursement of the funds, saying it was necessary to avoid further delays and ensure that the target beneficiaries of the initiative were reached.

“On the Bank of Agriculture N250 billion facility, we need to sit down with all stakeholders and come up with a robust roadmap that ensures these funds reach the intended farmers and translate into real productivity gains,” the Vice President said.

He commended President Bola Tinubu for granting the PFSCU the political backing to act boldly on priority reforms, notably, the fertilizer raw material liberalization and the Presidential Seed Fund.

“I want to place it on record, our deep appreciation for Mr. President’s leadership and guidance. His clear directives on fertilizer liberalization and the seed fund have empowered the PFSCU to fast-track delivery in ways that directly support farmers and strengthen our food systems,” he stated.

Commending the PFSCU for the achievements recorded so far, he noted that the output of the unit has demonstrated that when Federal Ministries, Departments and Agencies, the private sector and development partners align, we can move swiftly from intent to delivery.

The VP also called for improved collaboration among stakeholders to revitalize the seed sector and expand the strategic grain reserve through the ongoing reform initiative of the Federal Government.

On his part, the Governor of Ekiti State, Mr Biodun Oyebanji, stressed the need to establish a structure to ensure that the N250 billion credit support earmarked for small holder farmers by the Tinubu administration through the Bank of Agriculture reaches the farmers.

He also called for financial support for the PFSCU, pledging that his state was ready to provide financial assistance to them on a monthly basis.

Also, the Governor of Jigawa State, Mr Umar Namadi, commended the efforts of the Bank of Agriculture, emphasizing however that there is a need to provide subsidies for local Nigerian farmers.

On his part, the Governor of Cross River State, Mr Bassey Otu, agreed on credit issuance, advising however that local farmers be encouraged with incentives through subsidies.

Earlier in her presentation, the PFSCU Coordinator, Ms. Marion Moon underscored the urgency of protecting Nigeria’s fragile food security gains, with 30.8 million Nigerians still food insecure.

She said the unit had recorded significant progress in strengthening coordination and collaboration with MDAs across all three tiers of government.

Since the last SteerCo meeting in April, the PFSCU through respective MDAs has achieved major milestones: 250,000 farmers insured under the National Agribusiness Policy Mechanism (NAPM); Phase I of the Harvesting Hope Caravan launched across eight states in collaboration with state and local governments; approval of the N50 billion Seed Fund; and progress on the World Bank supported $500 million AGROW Programme.

Members commended the Harvesting Hope Caravan, currently engaging communities in collaboration with subnational governments.

The initiative underscores that agriculture is a shared responsibility, federal, state, local governments, private sector, and farmers must align in vision and purpose to sustain progress.

The meeting was attended by the Deputy Governors of Niger and Ebonyi States, the Ministers of Finance and Agriculture, Ministers of State for Finance and Agriculture, ALGON President, as well as representatives of the private sector and development partners.

By Aduragbemi Omiyale

About N30 billion is expected to be raised by C&I Leasing Plc through a combination of corporate bond issuance and equity to refinance debt owed by the company.

Proceeds from the exercises will also be used by the organisation to execute its business expansion plans, a notice signed by the company secretary, Mbanugo Udenze & Co, stated.

The board of the firm approached shareholders of the company for authorisation to raise the funds and this request was granted at the Annual General Meeting (AGM) held last Monday, September 8, 2025.

“The board of directors is hereby authorized to take all necessary actions to raise N15 billion in corporate bond for business expansion and debt refinancing.

“The board of directors is hereby authorized to take all necessary actions to raise N15 billion in equity for business expansion and debt refinancing,” parts of the resolutions passed at the meeting read.

Also at the AGM, the board was allowed to acquire a majority stake in Leasafric Logistics Limited, a company based in Ghana.

“The directors be and are hereby authorized to invest in Leasafric Logistics Ltd and purchase a direct ownership of 71.15 per cent (representing 711,500 units of ordinary shares) of the shares in Leasafric Logistics Ltd. The investment shall be funded from C & I Leasing PLC’s portion of the dividend declared by Leasafric Ghana PLC for the financial year ended 2023,” the shareholders said.

The investors also approved the payment of a 10 Kobo dividend proposed by the board for “shareholders whose names are registered in the register of members as at the close of business on the 5th day of August 2025.”