Only one in 10 Nigerians can comfortably raise N156,000 within a week, highlighting the financial strain facing households despite improving macroeconomic indicators.

Co-founder and Chief Operating Officer of PiggyVest, Odunayo Eweniyi, disclosed this at the company’s OpenHouse Lagos 2026, held at the Wole Soyinka Centre for Culture and the Creative Arts.

In a keynote presentation, Eweniyi cited findings from the company’s savings reports between 2023 and 2025, alongside data from its nearly 10 million users, to illustrate what she described as a widening gap between economic recovery and household welfare.

She noted that inflation had declined to about 15 per cent from nearly 35 per cent at the end of 2024, while the naira had strengthened and foreign reserves had risen.

She also cited the strong performance of the Nigerian stock market in dollar terms and the return of the country’s bonds to a JPMorgan emerging-market index after 11 years as signs of improving economic conditions.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) also cut its monetary policy rate from 26.5 per cent to 23 per cent on September 22, 2026, in one of its largest reductions in recent years.

However, Eweniyi said the improvements had yet to translate into better living conditions for most Nigerians, citing World Bank data showing that about 63 per cent of the population, or roughly 140 million people, live below the national poverty line.

She said six in 10 adults had no emergency savings, while only six per cent considered themselves financially secure.

One in four Nigerians could not raise emergency funds from any source, while only one in 10 account holders could comfortably mobilise N156,000 within a week.

The amount, she said, represents 10 per cent of gross national income per capita.

The findings also showed a decline in savings habits. While eight in 10 respondents saved money in PiggyVest’s 2023 report, fewer than five in 10 did so in its latest survey of nearly 30,000 Nigerians. More than half of those who stopped saving cited inadequate earnings.

The pressure is particularly severe among low-income earners, with 58 per cent of adults earning below N100,000 monthly or having no income.

The proportion rises to 77 per cent among Gen Z respondents, according to the findings presented by Eweniyi.

She said the erosion of purchasing power had also reduced the value of the minimum wage, with the current N70,000 equivalent to about $53, compared with $65 for the former N30,000 wage in 2023.

She added that the cost of a family pot of jollof rice had risen by 624 per cent over the past decade, consuming about 42 per cent of the minimum wage.

Food costs remain a major source of pressure, accounting for N6 of every N10 spent by Nigerian households, according to the data cited by Eweniyi. Food inflation is also close to 20 per cent, adding to pressure on household budgets.

The research further showed that 56 per cent of Nigerians had considered emigrating, up from 36 per cent in 2017.

However, emigration has dropped out of the leading savings goals among young Nigerians. While “japa” was the top savings goal for more than half of Gen Z respondents in 2023, it was no longer among their leading goals by 2025.

Despite the economic challenges, Eweniyi said optimism about the future remained strong, with 65 per cent of Nigerians believing that the next generation would be better off.

The figure was the highest among the 28 countries surveyed and more than double of the global average of 32 per cent.

Six in 10 young Nigerians also said they would rather start a business than take a formal job.

Meanwhile, the proportion of earners providing financial support to extended family members, commonly referred to as “black tax”, has fallen from more than 80 per cent to about two-thirds. However, more than half of earners still support relatives, while friends and family have remained the main source of loans for Nigerians for three consecutive years.

Eweniyi said the findings pointed to a structural income problem rather than a lack of savings discipline, noting that about half of income earners begin each month uncertain whether their earnings would cover basic needs.

She said the most stressful financial decisions for Nigerians this year revolved around rent, family obligations, business costs and emergencies rather than discretionary spending. (Guardian)