The President, Lagos Country Club, Seyi Adewunmi, has stressed the need to sustain business viability and strengthen personal financial resilience.

Speaking at the Club’s Business Forum 2.0 held in Lagos recently, he observed the rising cost of living has stretched household finances close to breaking point.

“The past two years have confronted Nigeria with one of its most testing economic cycles. Inflation has eroded savings and real income. Consumer purchasing power has weakened, reshaping demand patterns and challenging business sustainability nationwide,” he said.

With the theme: “Inflation, cost of living and consumer purchasing power: Adaptive strategies for Nigerians,” he added that there is need to improve efficiency and competitiveness, and position ourselves for long-term growth, no matter the scale, from multinational corporations to SMEs, and from community enterprises to household budget managers.

Over the years, he disclosed the forum has steadily grown into one of the club’s signature platforms for insight, engagement, and solutions-driven dialogue, embodying belief that premier social institutions must also be platforms for national progress.

The Guest of Honour, Paul Alaje noted challenges are real but not insurmountable.

Saying Nigeria has the capacity to rebound, he argued right policies can unlock significant growth.

On his part, Commissioner Ministry of Wealth Creation and Employment Akinyemi Ajigbotafe stated, ‘through the Lagos State Employment Trust Fund (LSETF), we have disbursed billions of naira in low-interest loans to small businesses and startups, enabling them to scale amid rising costs. These are not handouts, they are investments in adaptive enterprises, agn-tech ventures stabilizing food supply and renewable energy startups cutting linguistic costs.

“Recognising that 70% of inflation stems from food, we are scaling job registration centers and labour exchange programmes across Lagos’s five divisions. We understand that collaborations with community-based organizations and the organised private sector promote inclusive hiring, ensuring women, rural migrants, and informal workers, all of which are often hit the hardest by cost spikes.”