Nigeria’s non-oil private sector showed signs of strengthening in July 2025, as employment growth surged to its highest level in nearly two years.

The headline Stanbic IBTC Bank Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI), compiled by S&P Global, climbed to 54.0 from 51.6 in June—its best reading in three months and the eighth consecutive month of improvement.

The latest PMI data reveals a broader recovery in business conditions, as firms recorded significant increases in new orders and output, prompting them to boost capacity through hiring. The report marks July as the strongest month for both output and new business since April 2025, with companies citing stronger customer demand and the successful launch of new products.

“Rising new orders and efforts to speed up the completion of projects encouraged firms to take on extra staff at the fastest pace since October 2023,” the report said. It added that the added workforce helped stabilize backlogs after three straight months of accumulation.

The PMI serves as a barometer for private-sector health, with readings above 50.0 indicating growth. July’s 54.0 score places the economy firmly in expansion territory, underscoring a positive trajectory as the third quarter begins.

Wages Up Amid Transport Pressures, But Input Cost Inflation Softens

Staff cost inflation, however, picked up, hitting a five-month high as businesses responded to growing transport expenses borne by employees. Firms raised wages to cushion the impact, even as broader inflationary pressures showed signs of easing.

Purchase cost inflation slowed for the third consecutive month, with July recording the weakest pace of increase since April 2020. This easing—despite currency depreciation and raw material cost challenges—gave businesses more room to increase their purchasing activity and accumulate inventories.

The report noted a significant improvement in supplier performance, with shorter delivery times contributing to the stock buildup and helping firms respond more nimbly to rising demand.

Discounting Strategies Temper Output Prices

Output price inflation, meanwhile, slowed for the third straight month, reaching its lowest since May 2023. This moderation was attributed to firms passing on the benefit of lower purchase prices to customers through discounts—a strategic move to gain market share in a competitive environment.

Despite the positive trends in employment and output, business confidence dipped slightly in July after nearing a three-year high in June. The pullback reflects cautious optimism among firms, with concerns about macroeconomic conditions—particularly exchange rate instability and persistent cost pressures—still influencing outlook.

However, the report noted that many firms remain hopeful, expecting continued output growth over the next 12 months.

“Companies remained optimistic that output will rise over the coming year, but sentiment eased from the near three-year high posted in June. Those firms that predicted an increase in output linked this to plans to raise capital for business expansions and advertising,” it said.

Broad-Based Growth Across Key Metrics

The PMI’s five core components—output, new orders, employment, stock of purchases, and suppliers’ delivery times—all showed improvement in July, pointing to growing momentum in Nigeria’s non-oil economy.

The data, gathered between July 10 and 29, captures an evolving private sector that is gradually adapting to a challenging environment through strategic hiring, inventory buildup, and more targeted pricing. With easing input costs providing some relief, firms appear better positioned to meet demand without as much financial strain.

July’s report offers a snapshot of cautious recovery—one that remains vulnerable to macroeconomic instability, but which is increasingly finding its footing through expansion and operational resilience.

Google has been given just 14 days to comply with a landmark court ruling that could significantly alter the landscape of its Android ecosystem, following Epic Games’ second major victory in their long-running antitrust battle.

The ruling, which upheld Judge James Donato’s permanent injunction, mandates that Google implement sweeping changes to its Play Store business practices by mid-August—unless it manages to secure an emergency stay from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

The changes stem from a jury verdict that found Google guilty of operating an illegal monopoly around Android app distribution and in-app billing. Although Google has vowed to appeal and may escalate the case to the full Ninth Circuit or the U.S. Supreme Court, the tech giant is, for now, bound by the clock. It must begin dismantling core parts of its current model within two weeks.

What Google Must Change—Immediately

The court order demands that Google stop forcing developers to use its Google Play Billing system. It also requires that Android developers be allowed to:

• Inform users about alternative payment methods from within the Play Store.
• Link to app downloads outside of the Play Store.
• Set their own app pricing models.
• Freely distribute apps on competing platforms without restrictions or penalty.

Additionally, Google must cease offering monetary perks or strategic advantages to phonemakers, carriers, or developers in exchange for prioritizing the Google Play Store or preinstalling its apps.

These reforms target what are known as anti-steering provisions—rules that, in both this case and Epic’s earlier suit against Apple, were found to unfairly restrict competition by discouraging developers from using alternative app stores or billing systems.

In its emergency motion seeking a pause, Google argued that enforcing these measures on such a short timeline would pose “substantial risks” to over 500,000 developers and “millions of users,” claiming the transition could jeopardize the “entire Android ecosystem.” So far, the courts remain unconvinced.

Specific Provisions Going Into Effect

The injunction explicitly spells out the key changes Google must implement. The remedies taking effect in 14 days include:

Remedy 4: Google is barred from sharing revenue with any entity that distributes or is planning to distribute an Android app store, in order to prevent financial coercion in favor of Google Play.

Remedy 5: Google may not tie payments, revenue share, or access to any of its services to an app being launched first or exclusively on the Play Store.

Remedy 6: The company is also banned from conditioning perks or services on the promise that developers won’t release versions of their apps with additional features on third-party stores.

Remedy 7: OEMs and carriers can no longer be pressured to preinstall Google Play in prominent device locations in exchange for financial or strategic incentives.

Remedy 9: Google must drop its requirement that developers use only Google Play Billing. It also cannot prohibit developers from communicating with users about alternative payment methods or adjusting app pricing depending on the payment platform.

Remedy 10: Developers must be free to discuss pricing and availability of apps outside the Play Store and provide direct download links.

Remedy 13: Within 30 days, both Epic and Google must jointly select a Technical Committee tasked with reviewing disputes and overseeing compliance with these reforms.

The duration of most provisions is set at three years, until November 1, 2027.

Rival App Stores and More

These immediate changes don’t yet include the most radical reforms Epic is pushing for: forcing Google to allow rival app stores to be listed and installed directly within the Google Play Store. Judge Donato gave Google eight months to design a narrowly tailored set of safety and security rules to accommodate that next phase. As it stands, rival app stores such as the Epic Games Store or Microsoft’s Xbox Store won’t appear inside Google Play before early 2026.

Still, the ruling marks a pivotal shift in Android’s regulatory oversight, and it raises the likelihood of more app store competition long-term.

Google’s Ongoing Defense

Despite the loss, Google maintains that its Android ecosystem fosters innovation and offers broad user choice. In its stay request, the company said the ruling would cause “irreparable harm,” especially since it would have to retool billing, developer communication policies, and incentive structures in just two weeks.

A three-judge panel has already rejected one stay request, affirming the district court’s full injunction as valid and appropriately scoped. The likelihood of securing another emergency pause remains uncertain.

The court’s language suggests this isn’t just about fairness for Epic—it’s about opening up an ecosystem long governed by unilateral rules and exclusive agreements, many of which have become foundational to Google’s mobile dominance.

If the Ninth Circuit or the Supreme Court doesn’t intervene, Google will have to comply with the injunction or risk contempt of court. While its appeal continues, developers and competitors are watching closely for what could be the most significant restructuring of the Android app economy since the platform launched.

For Epic, the ruling is another notch in its antitrust crusade against big tech’s walled gardens. For Google, it’s an existential test of how much control it can retain over a system that, in the words of the court, was never supposed to be a monopoly in the first place.