The CEO Brief
Weekly flagship
A weekly read of what moved across African markets, what it means for a business like yours, and the one or two decisions it should change.
Helps you decide: where to lean in this month, and what to hold.
SME Intelligence · Six African markets
GrowthIntelAfrica turns the noise of African markets into clear, evidence-backed intelligence a founder can act on. Weekly briefs, quarterly research and hands-on advisory, for owners and managers of businesses with 5 to 500 people.
Think Bloomberg's discipline, Morning Brew's readability and McKinsey's rigor, aimed at the African SME. We report, research and advise. The goal is simple: be the place a serious operator checks before a real decision.
What GrowthIntelAfrica does
Weekly flagship
A weekly read of what moved across African markets, what it means for a business like yours, and the one or two decisions it should change.
Helps you decide: where to lean in this month, and what to hold.
Quarterly · six markets
Quarterly SME confidence across six African markets, with sector indices and the State of African SMEs. Open methodology, and a country's number is published only once its sample is real enough to be honest.
Helps you decide: whether the quarter ahead favours expansion or caution.
Diagnostics & growth strategy
Diagnostics and growth strategy for SME leadership teams. We sell outcomes, not slide decks: find what is holding the business back, then fix the sequence of moves that changes it.
Helps you decide: the highest-return move to make next, with the reasoning shown.
Put the research to work
The Business Health Check and the Decision Centre run against your own figures, free. The Operator's Report is the paid depth tier that reads your score against a real cohort.
Helps you decide: where your business stands, and what to do about it.
The Decision Centre
Four tools free, always. One paid depth tier — the Operator's Report — built on GI·Research data.
Markets at a glance
Why it matters: Activity is still growing: Stanbic IBTC's PMI showed new orders up for an eighth month and the CBN's own PMI expanded for a fourth (53.0). But the CBN survey also shows input prices rising while output prices fall, and household sentiment dropped to −18.7 from −9.9 in a month (CBN, September).
Why it matters: Headline fell for a fourth month in September, but food year on year edged up to 19.59% and Lagos food inflation reached 34.40%. Core prices rose 1.11% in the month and energy 5.38%. The CBN has called its 22 September cut an operational realignment, not a change of stance.
Why it matters: The naira recovered ₦23 from ₦1,370 on 23 October to ₦1,346.91 on 29 October, four straight sessions of gains, but turnover fell to $54 million on the last of them and the parallel rate sits near ₦1,390. If you import, treat this as a window to buy first-quarter dollars, not a trend to plan on.
Why it matters: Above 50 means private-sector activity is growing. September's 56.4 is the highest since February 2022, with output prices at a three-month high: competitors are passing costs through (Stanbic IBTC, September).
FX rates from ExchangeRate-API, updated daily (as of 8 Nov 2026), except the naira, which is the CBN official close (29 Oct) because the aggregator lags the official market. Bitcoin is live via CoinGecko; gold and cocoa are TradingView closes and Brent is the front-month contract quoted in this week's briefs, each shown at its own date. Stock indices are from Mansa Markets (African exchanges) and TradingView (S&P 500), each shown at its own latest available close. The date is on every tile, because not every exchange trades or refreshes on the same day. Output optimism, inflation & PMI are from NBS / CBN / Stanbic IBTC (Sep 2026). Confidence and sentiment on this board are national PMI readings, not the GIA Operator Outlook, which stays honest and empty until its own sample is real.
Why operators trust it
Most of what gets published about African business is guessed, rounded up, or quietly modelled. We do the opposite. Every figure traces back to a method you can read. When a market's sample is too thin to be honest, we label it coverage building and show no number at all. A market at “building” is always better than a fabricated one.
Coverage Map
Tap a country to see its coverage status.
GrowthIntelAfrica now publishes weekly intelligence briefs for all six markets. Nigeria has the deepest coverage, the market we've reported on for six years. The Operator Outlook and industry desks are extending across Ghana, Kenya, South Africa, Egypt and Morocco.
Explore each economy →
This week · 3 developments that matter
The central bank lifted its deposit rate a point to 20% on 29 October, three days after the pound passed 56 to the dollar as foreign investors sold Treasury bills. Variable-rate loans repriced at once, and banks review fixed lending rates in the week after the decision.
→ Re-cost imported stock at EGP 56 or weaker, cut pound quote validity to seven days by 6 November, and ask your bank which facilities are variable before new rates are published.
In September banks lent the Federal Government ₦6.36 trillion more and businesses ₦537.6 billion less. From November a ₦70,000 monthly transport allowance reaches federal workers for six months. The naira recovered to ₦1,346.91 on 29 October, but on turnover of only $54 million.
→ Plan this quarter's cash around your till, not a loan: price for the November and December spending window, and buy first-quarter import dollars while the naira is calm.
October inflation rose to 7.3% from 6.8%, with transport 17.1% dearer than a year ago, leaving it 0.2 points under the top of the central bank's target band. Brent gained more than 10% in October, and EPRA's 14 November review will price that month's import costs.
→ Reprice lines heavy in food, fuel or transport, add fuel-adjustment clauses to any quote running past 14 November, and confirm your clearing agent has the new marine insurance certificate on every import.
The Flagship · Every week
EDITION №13 · FRIDAY, 30 OCTOBER 2026
Egypt raised rates to 20% after the pound passed 56 to the dollar, Kenya's inflation hit 7.3%, and oil-exporting Nigeria's naira steadied near ₦1,347. If you import, you pay for oil at the pump and again on your borrowing: re-cost imports and credit this week.
Weekly Market Intelligence · Six markets
Industry Intelligence Index · Quarterly
The Industry Intelligence Index scores each sector on four things: demand, margin conditions, credit conditions and hiring, so a founder sees at a glance whether their world is opening up or tightening.
It is quarterly, and it is honest: a sector shows a number only once its inputs are compiled under the published method. No desk is scored yet, so none carries a figure. When one does, clicking it will show the data behind the score, the Brief coverage and the Business Autopsy files.
Ask a real business question. GrowthIntel answers from our research, the CEO Brief and sector data — then points you to the right tool or advisor. Evolving into a full Decision Assistant that asks the questions back.
The conversational Decision Assistant is in development. Join the newsletter for early access.
Who it is for
Primary
Businesses of 5 to 500 people, in Nigeria and five more African markets. You make the decision. We give you the reading behind it, in language that respects your time.
Also read by
Anyone who needs a ground-level, honestly-sourced view of the African SME economy rather than a headline number with no method behind it.
Create a free founder account, pick your sector, and the dashboard, index, Brief and tools re-rank around what matters to you — your industry, your risks, your saved Health Check score over time.
Product Roadmap — a multi-year platform
GrowthIntelAfrica is founded and written by Olawale Osoba — the operator behind Naijabusinessguy, six years of daily Nigerian business coverage and the Weekly Market Watch that became the CEO Brief. Every edition carries his read, and his record: the calls are made on the page, scored on the page, and corrected on the page when they miss.
That is the standard the whole platform is built on — decision intelligence you can trace to a named analyst who stands behind it. In Nigeria, we publish as Naijabusinessguy. Across Africa, as GrowthIntelAfrica. Same desk, same standard.
GI·Advisory · Booking Open
Diagnostics and growth strategy for SME leadership teams — evidence first. Tell us where you are; we'll bring the analysis.
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