Business
Demand For African Commodities Falling -ECOWAS
Commissioner for Social Affairs and Gender, Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), Dr Siga Jagne, has said that the demand and prices for African commodities are falling.
Jagne said this at a meeting of labour general assembly of the ECOWAS with the theme “strengthening social dialogue for the promotion of decent work in the ECOWAS region” yesterday in Abuja.
She added that by extension the demand and prices for West African commodities were affected by the fall, adding that capital flow were declining and promised of increased aid had not materialised.
According to her, the ECOWAS region has a population of approximately 391 million with a combined Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of approximately 676.1 billion dollars.
She stated that member states of ECOWAS were majorly low-income countries with gross national income per capital ranging from 3,678 dollars in Cape Verde to 452 dollars in Niger.
This, she said, led to a regional median gross national income per capital of 1,608 dollars in 2018.
According to her, these low incomes per capital figures are indicative of generalised poverty due to the limited resources to cater for the basic needs of the growing regional population on a sustainable basis.
She noted that majority of youths in the ECOWAS region did not have stable economic opportunities, noting those between the ages 15 and 24 had lower employment rate than adults by around 20 per cent.
Jagne stated that the problem was not just unemployment but underemployment, which according to her peaked at over half of youth in the labour force in the region.
“Women are also severally affected by low employment rate, as the gender gap between men and women in gainful employment continues to widen in the region.
“In addition, due to poor infrastructure, workers in rural areas are less involved in labour force participation,’’ she said.
Secretary General, Organisation of Trade Union in West Africa (OTUWA),Mr John Odoh, said that the level of social protection in the region include progress in gender mainstreaming.
He said that the commission had a lot to do to accomplish in West Africa and the rest of the world, adding that the commission should come out with proposal that would be beneficial to the region.
Odoh said that the assembly must work to ensure improved standard of living condition of the region and its workforce.
Deputy Director, International Labour Organisation (ILO), Mrs Cynthia Olajuwon, said that the region could not claim ownership of development if it was exclusively funded by others.
She stated that social dialogue must be mainstreamed into the things dragging the region backward such as unemployment, insecurity, low wage among others.
She said that some of the great things happening in Africa and West Africa showed that ECOWAS had gone far, adding that the global agenda on social dialogue had been promoted.
Olajuwon said that the African Union at the level of Head of States adopted the provision of employment as a key continental agenda.
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.
