Living costs in sub-Saharan Africa’s two largest economies are moving in opposite directions, with Nigeria’s consumer price increases cooling off while South Africa’s inflation rate jumped to levels last seen two years ago.
Nigeria’s central bank kept its policy rate unchanged this week, forecasting inflation to remain at moderate levels in the medium term after it softened to 15.9% in June: David Omojomolo, analyst at Capital Economics, said he expects Nigeria to resume rate cuts in September.
The country’s cooling prices contrast with price shocks happening elsewhere in Africa — particularly in South Africa, where newly released inflation data prompted economists at Goldman Sachs to raise their 2026 average forecast. The South African Reserve Bank is due to meet on Thursday for its next interest rate decision.