Nigeria's economy in focus: Protests, policy and progress

Welcome to the revamped 234Digest Daily Briefing! I’m Samuel Okocha and after a brief hiatus, I’m back with a new schedule, driven by my personal goal to build my writing muscles through daily writing.

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Lead story: Protests over living costs sweep Nigeria, posing economic threat

Nigeria's government faces mounting discontent as a 10-day protest over living costs began on August 1, spread across major cities, including Lagos, Abuja and Kano.

Demonstrators are demanding action to address soaring inflation and foreign exchange pressures. Authorities have imposed a curfew in Kano after thugs hijacked protests, sparking looting and destruction. Defying pleas to stand down, protesters vow to continue, citing Kenya’s recent demonstrations as inspiration.

The unrest threatens to further strain Nigeria’s economy, already facing challenges from declining oil production and a struggling non-oil sector.

Briefs

Nigeria Protests: Three protesters die in Kaduna as demonstrations against cost of living and governance spread (More)

Banking: Nigerian banks face call to scale back extravagance and pay windfall tax to regain public trust and support the economy [More]

Energy: NNPC Ltd approved to sell crude in local currency naira to Dangote refinery to ease foreign exchange pressure [More]

Sustainability: Nigeria ramps up clean cooking efforts, aiming to end inefficient and traditional burning of firewood and mitigate climate change impacts [More]

Entertainment: P-Square, a renowned Nigerian music duo, goes their separate ways again, ending their highly-publicized reunion after two years [More]

Technology: Meta removes 63,000 Nigerian accounts linked to financial sextortion scams [More]

Regulation: Meta faces $220m fine for breaching consumer and data protection [More]

Photo of the day

That’s all for now. We’ll return on Sunday with a deeper dive into the issues shaping Nigeria’s economic and business developments landscape. Until then, thank you for reading.