REVEALED: South-West leads Nigeria’s informal economy
The South West region has emerged as the hub of Nigeria’s informal economy, accounting for nearly one-third of all unregistered businesses across the country, according to the Moniepoint Informal Economy Report 2025 released in Abuja over the weekend. The report revealed that Lagos alone hosts 16 percent, about one in every six, of all informal businesses nationwide, a figure equivalent to the combined total of the North East and South East regions. The North East, meanwhile, recorded the lowest concentration of such enterprises. According to Moniepoint, the concentration of informal businesses in the South West has grown by 2 percent over the past year, underscoring the region’s dominant role in Nigeria’s micro and small-scale enterprise landscape. Citing 2024 data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), the report noted that Lagos State recorded the highest internally generated revenue (IGR) at ₦815 billion, almost four times that of the Federal Capital Territory (₦...