In December 2021, Nigeria’s Inflation Rate Grew To 15.63 Percent, NBS Says

According to the consumer price index report released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), in the month of December, Nigeria’s inflation rate in the month of December 2021 rose to 15.63 percent from 15.4 percent that was recorded in November of the same year.

December was a continuation of the decline that the country has been experiencing since early last year. The country, since April 2021, has been on a steady decline since the beginning of the year. According to statistics, food inflation also soared to 17.37 percent from 17.21 percent recorded in November while core inflation moved upward from 13.85 percent recorded in November 2021 to 13.87 percent. This rise in the food sub-index was caused by increases in prices of bread and cereals, food product, meat, fish, potatoes, yam and other tubers, soft drinks and fruits. The highest increases were recorded in prices of Gas, Liquid fuel, Wine, Actual and imputed rentals for housing, Narcotics, Tobacco, Spirit, Cleaning, repair and hire of clothing, Garments, Shoes and other footwear and Clothing materials, other articles of clothing and clothing accessories.

On the other hand, startups that have been a huge push for Nigeria and Africa is making headway. The Federal Executive Council has approved the Nigeria Startup Bill. The Nigeria Startup Bill is an answer to the call for harmonization of efforts from various government parastatals towards providing an enabling environment for startups and the tech industry in Nigeria. The goal of the Nigeria Startup Bill (NBS) is to ensure that every government agency is following the vision the government has for the Nigerian tech startup ecosystem, and to ensure that each body or agency isn’t working blindly and/or independently. The bill also seeks to continually revamp old laws relating to the startup space already existing.

According to The Nigeria Startup Bill website, “The Nigeria Startup Bill project is a joint initiative by Nigeria’s tech startup ecosystem and the Presidency to harness the potential of our digital economy through co-created regulations. The Bill will ensure that Nigeria’s laws and regulations are friendly, clear, planned and work for the tech ecosystem. This, we believe, will contribute to the creation of an enabling environment for growth, attraction and protection of investment in tech startups”. Nigeria holds the title for the country with the highest number of startups in Africa, and thanks to this bill, they’ll have an enabling environment to thrive. This will go quite a long way in helping settle the unbalanced economy of the country.