Confidence over the rising health of Africa’s largest economy has been dealt a heavy blow after Nigeria’s economic growth decelerated in the second quarter of 2018.

The nation’s Gross Domestic Growth  dropped in Q2 by slowing to 1.5 percent from the 1.95% achieved in the first quarter of this year.

Although growth during the second quarter was mainly driven by the services sector and higher  when compared to Q2 of 2017, it has done little to shake off jitters over the growth outlook.

With uncertainty likely to heighten ahead of the nation’s presidential elections next year and United States-China trade tensions still impacting global sentiment, Nigeria remains exposed to downside risks.

If inflation starts to rebound amid election spending, the nation’s apex bank, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) could be forced to maintain status quo on interest rates for the rest of this quarter.