Director-General of Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, Segun Ajayi-Kadir. Photo: MAN
The Manufacturers Association of Nigeria has renewed its call for coordinated structural reforms to address inflation, improve productivity and strengthen the competitiveness of the country’s manufacturing sector, as it looked ahead to the second half of 2026 following disruptions caused by the Middle East conflict.
The association made the call against the backdrop of the latest National Bureau of Statistics data, which showed that Nigeria’s headline inflation eased marginally to 15.91 per cent in June 2026 from 15.93 per cent in May. However, food inflation accelerated on a month-on-month basis, driven by higher prices of fresh pepper, tomatoes, crayfish, beef, garri, yams and other staple foods.
The PUNCH earlier reported that members of the organised private sector welcomed the slight decline in the inflation rate for June 2026 but warned that inflation remained in double digits and prices were still too high for businesses and consumers.
In his remarks for the April-June edition of MAN News obtained by this publication, the Director-General of MAN, Segun Ajayi-Kadir, observed that the renewed increase in inflation during the quarter highlighted the fragility of Nigeria’s economic recovery as higher food prices, energy costs, transportation expenses and exchange rate pressures continued to raise production costs and weaken consumers’ purchasing power.
