The World Bank has said that Nigeria’s target of achieving single-digit inflation in the short term is unrealistic.
It made the declaration in its latest Africa’s Pulse report released on Tuesday. The biannual report is titled, “Pathways to Job Creation in Africa.”
According to the World Bank, Nigeria remains among a handful of African countries still grappling with high Consumer price inflation.
The Bank projected that Nigeria, alongside Angola, Ethiopia, Ghana, Malawi, Sudan, Zambia, São Tomé and Príncipe, and Zimbabwe, will continue to record double-digit inflation rates through 2025.
According to the report, while 37 of Africa’s 47 economies are projected to maintain single-digit inflation by 2026, Nigeria remains an outlier due to persistent structural challenges, including currency depreciation, high food and energy prices, and supply bottlenecks that continue to fuel price instability.
The development is in contradiction with the Federal Government’s optimism that its recent fiscal and monetary reforms, including the FX unification, fuel subsidy removal, and the Central Bank’s tightening measures, would quickly drive inflation down to single digits.
Recently, Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Wale Edun, said ongoing fiscal and monetary reforms were aimed at helping to bring inflation down to single digits in the near term.
However, the World Bank stated that despite a broad wave of disinflation sweeping across Sub-Saharan Africa, Nigeria remains one of the few countries still trapped in double-digit inflation, even as price growth across the region slows to historic lows.
The report read: “Consumer price inflation has continued to recede across most Sub-Saharan African countries, albeit at varying speeds. After peaking at 9.3 per cent in 2022, the region’s median inflation rate declined to 4.5 per cent in 2024 and is projected to stabilize between 3.9 and 4.0 per cent annually over 2025–26. The number of countries in the region with single-digit inflation rates has increased from 27 in 2022 to 37 in 2025–26.
“In 2025, nearly 60 per cent of Sub-Saharan African countries have experienced a slowdown in consumer price inflation from last year. However, within this group, nine countries, Angola, Ethiopia, Ghana, Malawi, Nigeria, São Tomé and Príncipe, Sudan, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, are still expected to record double-digit inflation rates.”
The World Bank said Sub-Saharan Africa’s economy remains resilient despite global economic headwinds, projecting regional growth to accelerate from 3.5 per cent in 2024 to 3.8 per cent in 2025 and an average of 4.4 per cent in 2026–27.
Nigeria’s growth forecast was upgraded by 0.6 percentage points, one of the strongest revisions among major economies, driven by a rebound in oil production and modest investment flows. But the bank warned that inflation remains a key drag on household welfare and business confidence.
“While countries like Ivory Coast and Kenya are benefiting from price stability and easing monetary conditions, Nigeria’s inflation trajectory continues to undermine consumer demand and macroeconomic stability,” the report read.
