Nigeria’s companies are emerging from a bruising period defined by currency shocks, soaring input costs, and shrinking consumer purchasing power and are now pivoting from survival mode to an aggressive push for growth and market share.
Following the sharp naira devaluation, companies across consumer goods, health, banks, oil and gas sectors, etc., were forced to make difficult adjustments to keep their businesses afloat.
One of the most immediate responses was a deliberate reduction in foreign exchange exposure, particularly from the balance sheet.
According to Boluwatife Isola, consumer sector analyst at Chapel Hill Denham, during an interview on Channels TV, “We saw them restructure their loans to reduce dollar-denominated liabilities.”
Isola said, “For example, Cadbury converted a $7.7 million company loan to equity in a bid to deleverage its balance sheet, reduce foreign exchange risk, and improve profitability. We saw brewers tapping into the capital market to secure much-needed funds and navigate negative working capital as they grapple with a liquidity crunch.”
International Breweries came to the capital market for a rights issue to raise about N580 billion to settle outstanding loans, and we saw Nigerian Breweries do the same.
BusinessDay reported that Eterna Plc said it has commenced a N21.52 billion rights issue following approval from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), as the energy company seeks to fund expansion and strengthen its balance sheet.
Gabriel Ogbechie, chairman of the Board, said, “This right issue marks a significant step forward in our long term strategy to consolidate Eterna’s leadership position in the downstream energy sector. It will enable us to pursue growth opportunities across our value chain while delivering sustained value to our shareholders.’’
Agric companies like Presco Plc, has announced plans to raise as much as N237 billion to fund its expansion plans, through a rights issue to existing shareholders.
Similarly, Fidson, a pharmaceutical company disclosed its plans to raise N21 billion from existing shareholders to scale up drug production and accelerate its expansion across Africa, riding on a sharp surge in earnings.
Biola Adebayo, the company’s managing director/CEO said the capital will cement our position as the foremost healthcare company in Nigeria and a dominant player across Africa.
“Our exceptional performance this year has demonstrated our ability to thrive and innovate, and this successful offer assures us we can accelerate our growth trajectory and create sustainable, long-term value for all our stakeholders,” he added.
Read also: Naira rises to most competitive currency as reforms pay off
Local sourcing and backward integration redefine cost structures
Beyond financial restructuring, firms also moved swiftly to reduce FX pressure from the cost side of operations.
Local sourcing and backward integration became central to corporate strategy, with companies accelerating raw material substitution to cut reliance on imports.
“We also saw them move to local sourcing, and backward integration is a major theme here,” Isola, the consumer goods analyst noted. “But they didn’t stop at that. We saw more accelerated methods by substituting raw materials.”
Unilever Nigeria’s supply chain couldn’t wait for an economic fix from the government, so it designed a new strategy. In 2023, it made a bold change.
The company partnered with Psaltry International, a Nigerian agro-processor, to produce sorbitol from cassava, which will replace their imported corn syrup from China. This meant there were no more shipping delays and no FX volatility.
Cassava, grown in Oyo State, was turned into a sweetener for Close-Up and Pepsodent. It was the beginning of the Unilever cassava sorbitol project. And it worked. The company helped Psaltry expand. And secured supply by integrating the farming base.
Similarly, Nestlé is moving its raw material sourcing closer to production facilities in response to growing pressure on foreign exchange reserves in African countries.
The company is replacing imported cornstarch with cassava and helping local suppliers to increase capacity and improve quality.
According to a Lagos-based analyst, these adjustments happened on “two legs”: reducing FX exposure from loans and lowering FX pressure from imported inputs.
As the sector stabilises, recovery is not limited to a single sub-sector. Instead, it is playing out broadly across various sectors.
Earnings improve as macroeconomic conditions improve
These macroeconomic improvements are reflected in the company’s earnings for the first nine months of 2025. An analysis of NGX 30 listed firms shows that twenty-six (28) of the firms surveyed after-tax profit rose by 72.7 percent to N7.6 trillion in the nine months of this year from N4.4 trillion in the same period of last year, reflecting broad-based profit recovery, particularly among those with domestic production bases and moderate import exposure.
Last year, the naira recorded its strongest annual performance in over a decade, appreciating by more than 7% against the United States dollar, supported by wide-ranging foreign exchange reforms implemented by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
Data published by the apex bank showed that the local currency strengthened by 7.4% or N105.61 during the year to close at N1,435.75 per dollar on Wednesday, the final trading day of 2025, compared with N1,541.36 traded at the start of the year on January 2, 2025.
The positive momentum extended into the new year, with the naira hitting an all-time high of N1,420 on Friday, January 16, 2026,
Nigeria’s economy expanded by 4.23 percent in the second quarter of 2025, driven by growth in trade, real estate, telecommunications, and agriculture, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).