Nigerians’ cost of living pain deepens as election looms

Grace Adama, a health NGO worker in Abuja, Nigeria, struggles with rising living costs despite earning nearly double the country's minimum wage. She says her salary barely lasts a week even after a month of work due to soaring expenses on housing, electricity, and other essentials. The cost of staples like jollof rice has more than doubled since President Bola Tinubu took office, according to a price-tracking index by Lagos-based SBM Intelligence.

The government implemented tough reforms, including scrapping fuel subsidies, devaluing the naira, and cutting electricity subsidies, to pull the country out of fiscal crisis. While many Nigerians grapple with poverty, investor optimism has soared over the reforms, with investors describing the current sentiment as the most positive in two decades, according to Thys Louw, a portfolio manager at Ninety One.

The disparity between Nigerians' worsening financial situation and investor confidence highlights the challenges Tinubu faces ahead of the January elections, as he must convince voters that the reforms' benefits will eventually reach them.