By Aminat Misikilu
The Premium Times Training Academy (PTTA), in partnership with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), held a two-day business and financial reporting workshop to equip journalists with the skills to understand and interpret Nigeria’s economic policies ahead of the apex bank’s 2026 monetary reforms.
The training aims to strengthen journalists’ understanding of complex policy signals, enabling them to translate technical financial developments into clear, accurate information for the public.
Senior CBN officials, financial analysts, and media experts led sessions covering Nigeria’s macroeconomic environment, monetary tools, and strategies to curb inflation.
The Senior Manager, Business and Partnerships at Premium Times, Olayinka Lawal, said the partnership with CBN reflects a shared commitment to improving the quality of financial journalism. “Factual and ethical reporting on economic policy shapes public perception, informs policy debates, and supports national development.”
Participants engaged in breakout sessions and practical exercises, examining Nigeria’s evolving macroeconomic landscape, including new liquidity-management tools designed to push inflation from decades of double digits towards single digits, a feat Nigeria has not achieved in over 35 years.
Experts explain monetary policy shifts
The founder of Biodun Adedipe Associates, Biodun Adedipe, a professor, represented by Benjamin Akinsoto, a consultant at the firm, explained the key drivers of financial stability and the everyday impact of inflation on households. He linked sustained disinflation, naira stability, and increased investor inflows to stronger economic performance.
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This was expanded during an interactive session with the Chief Executive Officer of the Centre for Financial Journalism, Ray Echebiri, who clarified the concepts of hawkish and dovish policy directions, as well as contractionary and expansionary monetary approaches. He noted that Nigeria currently operates a tight monetary stance aligned with the CBN’s renewed emphasis on Open Market Operations to slow rising inflation.
Ethics, data, and the battle against disinformation
Premium Times Editor-in-Chief, Musikilu Mojeed, stressed the importance of fact-based reporting backed by reliable open-source data. He emphasised that such evidence-driven journalism enhances credibility, nuance, and public trust.
He urged journalists to resist unethical practices such as collection of ‘brown envelopes’ regardless of financial pressures.
On his part, Africa Check’s Nigeria Editor, David Ajikobi, introduced participants to open-source intelligence (OSINT) method for verifying economic data and detecting manipulated or synthetic content.
According to Mr Ajikobi, OSINT is increasingly essential in an era where the boundaries between authentic and synthetic content continue to blur.
CBN Outlines 2026 monetary policy direction
Under the inflation-targeting framework, CBN is modernising payments, reinforcing banking-sector stability and ending deficit financing for the government. The reform which is expected to advance fully by 2026 aims to restore credibility and lay a stronger foundation for sustainable growth.
CBN’s Director of the Monetary Policy Department, Victor Uboh, explained that the apex bank’s new monetary policy is a transition from the monetary targeting framework toward an explicit inflation-targeting framework.
