Nearly 40% of members of the Premium Breadmakers Association of Nigeria (PBAN) have shut down their businesses within the past two years as rising energy costs, expensive borrowing and worsening economic conditions continue to threaten the country’s baking industry.
PBAN President, Engr Emmanuel Onuorah, disclosed this on Thursday, November 12, 2026, at the association’s fourth Day-Out Exhibition and Masterclass in Lagos.
Speaking on the theme, “Baking Through the Economic Storm: Innovation, Efficiency and Growth for a Sustainable Industry,” Onuorah attributed the wave of closures largely to surging energy expenses and harsh operating conditions.
“Business in these past years has been very tough. It’s been terrible. Words cannot even say how we feel. Businesses are going down; my members are closing,” he said, according to a report by The PUNCH published on November 13, 2026.
The PBAN president warned that the situation was becoming increasingly difficult for bakery operators, particularly small and medium-sized businesses struggling to meet production expenses.
He also raised concerns about the high cost of borrowing, alleging that genuine business operators were finding it difficult to access government-backed intervention loans.
Onuorah said none of PBAN’s members had received a loan from the Bank of Industry despite efforts to secure financing for operators in the sector.
He disclosed that a bank had offered him a ₦12 million loan for a solar energy project at an interest rate of 34%, alongside a 20% counterpart funding requirement.
According to him, the cost of transitioning to alternative energy sources, including compressed natural gas (CNG), was also beyond the reach of many bakery operators.
He estimated that a small bakery would require between ₦40 million and ₦50 million to install a hybrid energy system capable of operating on diesel and gas.
Onuorah appealed to the Federal Government to introduce grants and single-digit interest loans to help bakery businesses adopt alternative energy sources and remain operational.
Also speaking at the event, PBAN Financial Secretary and Chairperson of its 2026 Day-Out Planning Committee, Adijat Olaniyi-Olopade, said the average cost of borrowing stood at about 33%, while profit margins in bread production remained below 30%.
She explained that the gap between borrowing costs and profit margins was making it increasingly difficult for bakery operators to sustain their businesses.
Olaniyi-Olopade also identified energy as a major production expense, estimating that electricity and fuel accounted for about 50% of bakery production costs.
She disclosed that her bakery’s monthly diesel expenditure had increased from approximately ₦9 million to ₦19 million, despite the business being unable to increase bread prices.
The disclosure was also reported by The Guardian on November 12, 2026, which highlighted the impact of high commercial lending rates on bakery operators despite recent reductions in the Central Bank of Nigeria’s Monetary Policy Rate.
The latest membership losses compound earlier nationwide industry declines flagged by PBAN in November 2025, when the association reported that over 40% of bakeries across Nigeria had shut down between the post-COVID-19 period and 2025.
At the time, Onuorah said the total number of bakeries across the country had fallen from more than 100,000 to fewer than 60,000, attributing those closures to insecurity, high production costs, multiple taxation, poor roads and expensive financing.
The continued pressure on bakery operators raises concerns about employment and the cost of producing bread, one of Nigeria’s widely consumed staple foods.
PBAN is urging the government to improve access to affordable financing and reduce energy costs to prevent further business closures and support the survival of local bakeries.
