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Headline Inflation Reduces To 15.99% In October — NBS

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Inflation

Nigeria’s headline inflation declined for the seventh consecutive month to 15.99 per cent in October, Mr Simon Harry, the Statistician-General of the Federation has said.

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He said this on Monday in Abuja at a media conference while presenting the October Consumer Price Index (CPI).

According to Harry, the headline inflation reduced from 16.63 per cent recorded in September, indicating a 0.64 per cent decline.

He said, “With this it means that the declining trend for about seven months portends a positive signal given the favourable economic conditions, that rate of inflation in Nigeria would come down to a bearable level.

“So we are hoping that necessary measures will be put in place by government policymaking bodies to maintain this trend.”

Harry, however, said that it was not expected that the downward trend of the inflation figures would be affected by disruptions to economic activities due to violence in some parts of the country.

He added that it was rather very difficult to have such consecutive decline in the trend affected, except there was a shock in the system.

“We pray that there would be no shock to change the narrative and as long as there is no shock we expect that the decline would continue and the inflation rate would continue to decrease rather than remain static or increase,” he said.

Headline Inflation Reduces To 15.99% In October

The report indicates that the headline index increased by 0.98 per cent in October, indicating a 0.17 per cent decline than the 1.15 per cent recorded in September.

It also said the percentage change in the average composite CPI for the 12 months period ending in October over the average of the CPI for the previous 12 months period was 16.96 per cent, showing 0.13 per cent point from 16.83 per cent recorded in September.

It said, “The urban inflation rate increased by 16.52 per cent (year-on-year) in October 2021 from 14.81 per cent recorded in October 2020, while the rural inflation rate increased by 15.48 per cent in October 2021 from 13.68 per cent in October 2020.

“On a month-on-month basis, the urban index rose by 1.02 per cent in October, down by 0.19 per cent than the rate recorded in September (1.21) percent, while the rural index also rose by 0.95 per cent in October, down by 0.15 per cent than what was recorded in September (1.10) per cent.”

The NBS said that composite food index rose by 18.34 per cent in October 2021 compared with 17.38 per cent in October 2020.

It added that the rise in the food index was caused by increase in prices of food products such as coffee, tea and cocoa, milk, cheese and eggs, bread and cereals, vegetables and potatoes, yam and other tuber.

However, on month-on-month basis, the food sub-index increased by 0.91 per cent in October, down by 0.35 per cent points from 1.26 per cent recorded in September.

The ‘’All items less farm produce’’ or Core inflation, which excludes the prices of volatile agricultural produce stood at 13.24 per cent in October, up by 2.10 per cent points when compared with 11.14 per cent recorded in October.

According to the report, on month-on-month basis, the core sub-index increased by 0.80 per cent in October, down by 0.44 per cent point when compared with 1.24 per cent recorded in September.

“The highest increases were recorded in prices of gas, fuels and lubricants for personal transport equipment, vehicle spare parts, non-durable household goods, solid fuel, passenger transport by road, passenger transport by air, garments and cleaning.

“Others are repair and hire of clothing, major household appliances whether electric or not, wine, clothing materials, other articles of clothing and clothing accessories and Liquid fuel,” it said.

For state profiles, the report said that for the month under review, all items inflation on a year-on-year basis was highest in Bauchi at 19.63 per cent, Gombe at 19.33 per cent and Jigawa at 19.07 per cent.

Meanwhile, Kwara at 11.82 per cent, Edo at 13.31 per cent, and Rivers at 13.66 per cent recorded the slowest rise in headline year-on-year inflation.

On a month-on-month basis, however, October 2021, recorded the highest increases in Cross River at 2.14 per cent, Benue/Kebbi tied at 2.02 percent and Yobe 1.71.

The slowest rise in inflation for all item occurred in Adamawa at 0.18 per cent with Kano and Kogi recording price deflation or negative inflation (general decrease in the prices of goods and services or a negative inflation rate).

The report also said that food inflation on a year-on-year basis was highest in Kogi at 23.69 per cent, Gombe at 23.29 per cent and Jigawa at 21.91 per cent, while Edo at 13.16 per cent, Rivers 14.46 per cent and Adamawa at 15.42 per cent recorded the slowest rise in year on year food inflation.

On month-on-month basis, food inflation was highest in Kebbi at 2.29 per cent, Yobe at 2.23 per cent and Akwa Ibom at 2.16 per cent with Kano, Kogi, Osun and Oyo recording price deflation or negative inflation.

The CPI measures the average change over time in prices of goods and services consumed by people for day-to-day living.

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Shoreline Group secures US$200 million Afreximbank Facility

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Shoreline Group today announced that African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) has approved a US$200 million facility in favour of Shoreline Power Company Limited and co-borrowers including Arkad S.p.A., Shoreline’s majority-owned engineering and construction platform.
Approved in June 2026, the facility was arranged and provided by Afreximbank as sole mandated lead arranger and lender. It provides bonding and working-capital capacity for Arkad’s delivery of the Hassi Bir Rekaiz project and supports Shoreline and its affiliates in developing further pipeline and infrastructure
projects in Nigeria and other permitted jurisdictions.
“This is a defining transaction for Shoreline and Arkad. We built Arkad as an African- sponsored engineering platform capable of competing at the highest level, and it is now delivering against a billion-dollar energy contract. Afreximbank’s US$200 million commitment gives the platform the financial strength to match its engineering capability and pursue further major infrastructure mandates. It demonstrates that African enterprises can assemble the capital, capability and partnerships required to compete for infrastructure at international scale.”
Hassi Bir Rekaiz Phase 2a Arkad holds 44 per cent of the approximately US$1 billion EPCCS-1 contract awarded by Groupement
Hassi Bir Rekaiz (GHBR) to an unincorporated consortium led by Egypt’s Petrojet, which holds 56 percent. EPCCS-1 covers engineering, procurement, construction, commissioning and start-up for the Phase 2a central processing facility and related infrastructure at the Hassi Bir Rekaiz field in Algeria’s Berkine
Basin.
GHBR is the joint operating entity for the licence, held by Sonatrach with 51 per cent and Thailand’s PTTEP with 49 per cent. The project includes a new crude oil processing facility with capacity of 31,500 barrels per day, facilities for associated gas and produced-water treatment, approximately 217 kilometres
of pipelines and the brownfield modifications required to integrate existing Phase 1 infrastructure.
The facilities are designed to support later expansion to 63,000 barrels per day under Phase 2b.
“This financing addresses the instruments that determine whether an EPC contractor can execute at scale: performance guarantees, advance payment guarantees and working capital through the project cycle. Hassi Bir Rekaiz is a demanding scope, combining a new central processing facility, associated treatment systems, pipelines and brownfield integration. With Petrojet, and with the support of Shoreline and Afreximbank, Arkad is focused on disciplined delivery against the project’s safety, quality and schedule requirements.”
The transaction was structured under Afreximbank’s Engineering, Procurement and Construction Initiative, which supports African engineering and construction firms with the financial instruments required to compete for and execute large infrastructure contracts. Afreximbank also supported the Arkad-Petrojet partnership through its EPC twinning work at the Intra-African Trade Fair held in Algiers
in 2025.
According to Afreximbank, the transaction is its first support for a Sub-Saharan African contractor undertaking a major infrastructure project in North Africa. For Shoreline, it demonstrates a practical model for combining African ownership and capital with established international engineering andindustrial capability.

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BUSINESSWOMAN AISHA ACHIMUGU SPEAKS OUT, CALLS FOR PROTECTION OF LIFE AND RESPECT FOR RULE OF LAW

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Nigerian businesswoman and investor Aisha Achimugu has made a public appeal for the protection of her life, her family, and her business interests while alleging a sustained campaign of intimidation, media trial, and asset seizures.

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Achimugu, in a statement Tuesday, said she is facing actions that she described as an affront to the rule of law and natural justice.
She then called for the respect for court orders and for an end to what she termed misleading media coverage about her person and companies.
According to Achimugu, the widow of the late Engr. Sulaiman Achimugu, former Managing Director of the Pipelines and Product Marketing Company, PPMC, she has over the last three decades built businesses in the oil and gas and other sectors, and runs the SAM Empowerment Foundation, SEF, which she said has implemented health, education, and community projects across Nigeria.
The businesswoman, however, alleged that since 2023 she has been the subject of investigations and actions by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.
Narrating her ordeals, Achimugu noted that in 2023, the EFCC’s Port Harcourt zonal office froze her personal accounts, her children’s accounts, and company accounts linked to the Felak Group, based on an interim forfeiture order.
She said this was connected to a mistaken association with MBA Forex and Capital Investment.
Achimugu stated that in January 2024 she honoured an EFCC invitation with her counsel, clarified her company’s single transaction with MBA Forex, and refunded N58 million by bank draft to the EFCC recovery account.
In March 2025, the businesswoman said she received WhatsApp messages inviting her to the EFCC Port Harcourt office. Her lawyer responded in writing, proposing dates in April 2025. Despite this, she alleged a media campaign began on March 10, 2025 linking her to wrongdoing.
On March 28, 2025, the same day her company, Oceangate Oil & Gas Limited, submitted proof of $20 million payment to NUPRC for oil blocks PPL 302-DO and PPL 3007, subsequently, she claimed the EFCC declared her a “Wanted Person” for “conspiracy and money laundering.” She also alleged that EFCC operatives searched her home that day.
In April 2025, Achimugu said she filed a fundamental rights suit at the Federal High Court, Abuja. But upon returning to Nigeria on April 28, 2025 from a foreign trip, she alleged she was taken into EFCC custody, granted bail by a judge, but released five days later. She also said her international passport was collected.
She alleged further asset actions, including freezing of bank accounts, and the seizure of vehicles from her home in January 2026. She said matters relating to these actions are the subject of ongoing litigation and appeals.
Achimugu also alleged that her United States visa was revoked in April 2025, and that she encountered issues with visa processing related to her Grenadian citizenship, which she linked to media reports citing the EFCC’s declaration.
Achimugu stated that she has invested nearly $90 million in Nigeria’s oil and gas sector in the last five years and has attracted over $100 million in investments into the economy while directly employs close to 200 Nigerians.
However, she said the actions of the anti-graft agency have affected her business operations, international partnerships, and family, including her elderly parents and young children.
Achimugu then called on the National Assembly, the Judiciary, security services, and local and international human rights organizations to examine her case.
She also asked for the protection of her life and properties, respect for court orders, and an end to what she described as a “media trial”.
“I believe that justice delayed is justice denied, and I am not afraid to face the law provided due process is followed. My lawyers are pursuing all legal remedies locally and internationally,” she said.
Achimugu added that she remains committed to Nigeria and to supporting private sector growth.

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Nigeria’s Credit Crisis: Why Firms Still Struggle for Loans

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Nigeria’s Credit Crisis deepens as businesses struggle with high lending rates, weak bank credit access and government borrowing despite falling inflation (more…)

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