Economic activity in Nigeria expanded for a third consecutive month in August, with the Central Bank's composite Purchasing Managers' Index rising to 52.7 points from 51.1 in July — the strongest improvement in business conditions recorded in 29 months.

Anything above 50 on the index signals expansion. Output, employment and new orders all stayed above that line.

Where the growth sat

Agriculture led at 53.4, extending its expansion streak to 25 consecutive months. Services followed at 53.3. Industry came in at 50.6, a return to growth after contracting every month since April.

The industrial picture is more uneven than the headline suggests. Of the sector's subsectors, five expanded and eleven contracted. Oil refining recorded the strongest growth of any subsector; motor vehicles posted the steepest decline.

The August reading points to a modest recovery in economic activity.

That was the Central Bank's own framing, and the word doing the work in it is modest.

Read alongside the rest

The survey lands in a run of numbers that have gone the government's way. Inflation eased to 15.43 per cent in July from 15.91 per cent in June. GDP grew 4.43 per cent in the second quarter. Reserves have passed 54 billion dollars and the naira has firmed to around N1,315.

Whether a manufacturer in Ogun or a trader in Kano recognises any of this in their own books is the question the index cannot answer. A PMI measures direction of travel, not distance covered.

Reporting by Nairametrics. This summary was written by the TalkNaijaMedia desk.