Business
AU Summit: Nigerians Task African Leaders On Insecurity, Unemployment
Some Abuja residents have urged African Heads of State and Governments to prioritise unemployment and insecurity during their meeting in Johannesburg.
The African leaders, under the auspices of African Union (AU) Summit holds between June 11 and June 15.
A trader at Garki market, Charles Okotieboh, told newsmen insecurity had become a major challenge to the development of many countries on the continent.
He said it was unfortunate that progress made in the area of infrastructure development in some countries such as Nigeria and North African nations were being eroded by insurgency and militants’ activities.
Okotieboh told newsmen that it would take enormous resources to redress the social and economic losses caused insecurity.
He stressed it was obvious that no meaningful progress would be achieved in the face of insecurity.
A civil servant, Mr Jacob Zamani, called on the leaders to urgently address the problem of unemployment on the continent.
He said insurgency and other security challenges being experienced in many parts of the continent could be attributed to unemployment.
Zamani also urged the African leaders to address the state of the economy of their countries, saying that it was painful that in spite of their enormous resources most African nations remained underdeveloped.
He called for the strengthening of the health sector across the continent to enable them to appropriately respond to health emergencies.
??Rufors Idarah a naval officer called on the leaders to prevail on multinational companies operating in Africa to support infrastructure development efforts of their host countries.
The theme for the summit is “Year of Women Empowerment and Development Towards Africa’s Agenda 2063.”
Credit to Nigeria’s private sector rose to N83.26 trillion in June 2026 from N81.04 trillion in May, signifying a positive balance of N2.22 trillion month-on-month.
Year-on-year, the figure represents a nine per cent increase compared with the N76.13 trillion recorded in June 2025. The latest figures come as the CBN continues to balance efforts to control inflation with the need to support economic growth and expand credit to businesses.
The CBN data shows that credit to Nigeria’s private sector increased by approximately 2.74 per cent month-on-month between May and June 2026. Also, the CBN data noted that credit to the government fell slightly to N40.03 trillion from N40.38 trillion. Other assets, net, dropped to N10.76 trillion from N12.63 trillion.
The credit surge signifies sustained growth in lending to businesses and other private-sector borrowers during the month. The rise in private sector credit was recorded alongside an increase in net domestic credit, despite declines in credit to government and other assets.
Further analysis of the report says that compared with June 2025, private sector credit rose by about N7.13 trillion yea-on-year but net domestic credit increased by approximately N1.87 trillion during the month.
The CBN’s relatively tight monetary policy stance notwithstanding, more banks still loaded funds to the private sector within the period. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) held its 306th meeting on July 20 and 21.
The Committee reviewed recent developments in the global and domestic economies, assessed emerging risks to the outlook and considered their implications for monetary policy and retained all rates.
The Committee decided to retain the Monetary Policy Rate at 26.5 per cent; the Standing Facilities Corridor around the MPR at +50/-450 basis points and retain the Cash Reserve Requirement (CRR) for Deposit Money Banks at 45.00 per cent, Merchant Banks at 16.00 per cent, and non-TSA public sector deposits at 75.00 per cent.
The MPC decision means that credit extension in the private sector will likely continue to rise because of rising confidence in the sector and calls by stakeholders for banks to invest in the private scetor instead of government securities.
