That’s how Chinyere Almona, the Director-General of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), summed up the outgoing 2024 and urged Nigerian companies to prepare for “more stress in 2025.”

Almona said: ” It was a year of higher inflation, interest rates, and exchange rates, making the country less attractive to investors.

“The persistent rise in the inflation rate, reaching a 28-year record high of 34.60 in November, continues to fuel a tense business environment as elevated prices constrain various business operations,” Almona said.

The LCCI is particularly concerned because, with the persistent and unabated rise in inflation, businesses should prepare for more stress from the burden of higher interest rates as we enter the new year.

“A disappointing negative record of our capital importation at $1.25 billion during the third quarter of 2024 compared with $2.60 billion recorded in the preceding second quarter of the year points to an unattractive environment for investors.

“Foreign Direct Investment, the most critical investment that shows long-term investor confidence dropped to $103.82 million in Q3 2024, or 8.29 per cent.”

The LCCI boss said the rising costs of food, energy, housing, transportation, and services are driving inflation, worsening economic conditions, and reducing both purchasing power and business profitability.

Segun Ajayi-Kadir,  the Director-General of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), noted that the government must take decisive action to reverse the trends in 2025.

Ajayi-Kadir said that the harsh himfect of hostile economic policies has largely constrained the country’s goal of rapid industrialisation and has left the economy struggling for survival.

He said that for a positive outlook in the coming year,  especially for the manufacturing sector, MAN recommends the following:

  1. Create special windows for providing single-digit interest rates to productive sectors and relax stringent conditions for SMEs to access funding

.2.  Retain the current excise duty of N10 per litre on non-alcoholic beverages to avoid shutting down the industry.

3. Recapitalize the Bank of Industry (BOI) to meet the growing credit demand of industries.

4. Implement the recommendations of the Presidential Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms Committee.

5. Review import duty rates for production inputs, particularly those not locally available, and consider pegging the rate at N800.

6. Direct the Central Bank of Nigeria to clear $2.4 billion outstanding dollar obligations on FX forward contracts to support manufacturers.