How Nigeria's biggest companies turned reform into cash - Businessday NG

…Operating cash flows have surged across sectors, revealing the corporate side of Nigeria’s economic adjustment.

Three years after President Bola Tinubu launched the most ambitious economic reforms in decades, the balance sheets of Nigeria’s largest listed companies show that corporate cash generation has surged far faster than profits.

An analysis of 27 companies listed on the Nigerian Exchange shows that aggregate operating cash flows among many of the country’s biggest firms rose to N6.6 trillion in the first quarter (Q1) of 2026, a 247 percent increase from N1.9 trillion reported in Q1 2023, the last comparable quarter before the reforms took effect in May of that year.

In profit, these firms reported N3.08 trillion in Q1’26, compared to N1.16 trillion in Q1’23, representing a 165 percent rise.

The firms surveyed include Dangote Cement Plc, BUA Foods, MTN Nigeria, BUA Cement, Seplat Energy, Lafarge Africa Plc, Zenith Bank, Guaranty Trust Holding Company Plc, First HoldCo Plc, Geregu Power Plc, Presco Plc, Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc, Nigerian Breweries Plc, Nestle Nigeria Plc, Transcorp Hotels Plc, and International Breweries Plc.