Nigerian firms squeezed by taxes, insecurity, high rates –CBN

By Uche Usim

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), in its latest Business Expectations Survey (BES), identified multiple taxation, insecurity and high borrowing costs as major threats to local business operations in September.

The apex bank’s BES tracks how businesses view current economic conditions and their prospects for the months ahead.

According to the survey, high or multiple taxation recorded the highest constraint index at 67.1 points, followed by insecurity at 66.2 points and high interest rates at 64.3 points.

In simple terms, the findings show that businesses are struggling with the cost of paying different taxes and levies, security-related disruptions and the high cost of borrowing money from banks.

Other major concerns identified by businesses were an unfavourable political climate, with 61.8 points; high bank charges, 61.5 points; competition, 60.2 points; and unclear economic laws and an unfavourable economic climate, both at 58.7 points.

Financial constraints and poor infrastructure ranked among the lowest of the 10 major constraints, recording 57.5 and 55.0 points respectively.

Despite these pressures, businesses remained optimistic about the economy.

The Business Confidence Index stood at 13.4 points in September, although this was lower than the August level.

The CBN said the positive outlook was driven mainly by expectations of increased demand, economic diversification and improved access to finance.

In particular, increased demand accounted for 29.3 per cent of the reasons given by businesses for their optimism, followed by economic diversification at 18.9 per cent and access to finance at 13.5 per cent.

The industry sector recorded the strongest confidence, rising from 17.1 points in August to 19.4 points in September.

However, confidence in the services sector fell from 13.3 to 10.2 points, while agriculture declined from 13.9 to 12.8 points. Despite the declines, all three sectors remained in positive territory.

Businesses also expect borrowing costs to remain high in the near term, even though they see some possibility of a modest decline over the next six months.

The CBN said firms maintained a positive outlook on the naira, with respondents expecting the currency to strengthen modestly against the dollar across the review periods.

For the near future, business confidence is projected to rise to 23.6 points by December 2026 and 36.1 points by March 2027, suggesting that firms expect economic conditions to improve gradually.

The survey comes amid ongoing efforts by the federal government to reform Nigeria’s tax system and reduce the burden of multiple taxation.

The government has introduced new tax laws and, in March 2026, rolled out a presumptive tax framework for micro, small and medium enterprises to simplify tax compliance and encourage businesses in the informal sector to join the formal economy.

The Joint Revenue Board has also prohibited the collection of road taxes, levies and related charges through checkpoints as part of efforts to curb multiple taxation.

However, the CBN survey shows that taxation remains a major concern for businesses, indicating that the challenge is not only the amount of tax payable but also the number of taxes and levies firms encounter in their daily operations.