Nigeria at a Glance

Nigeria is a tropical, sub-Saharan country in Africa often referred to as the ‘Giant of Africa’ because of its population. It has 36 states with its capital in Abuja. Nigeria is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the West, Chad and Cameroon in the East and Niger in the North. Its coast in the south lies on the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean.

Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa and the seventh most populous country in the world with the population of over 180 million. There are over 300 ethnic groups with Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba having the largest population and officially recognized as Nigeria’s major ethnic groups. Nigeria has 2 major religions – people who live mostly in the Southern and Central parts of the country are Christians while Muslims are concentrated mostly in the Northern and South-Western regions. A minority of the population practice Traditional religion.

POLITICS

The fifth consecutive national elections held in March and April 2015 and won by an opposition party (All Progressives Congress) were considered as fair and relatively peaceful by national and international election monitors as compared to the post-election killings and destruction of 2011. The inauguration of Muhammadu Buhari as the 5^th president of the Fourth Nigerian Republic took place on Friday, 29^th May, 2015. The successful general elections in 2015 are largely credited to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the leadership of the Presidential candidates. The New Government is focusing on anti-corruption, jobs and unemployment, the economy and security.

DEVELOPMENT CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES

In the North East, Boko Haram remains a threat, and millions of displaced persons require assistance. There has been major destruction of infrastructure along with the loss of lives and impoverishment in this region. The new government has curbed a lot of the devastation and regained major parts of the territory. There has also been a recent drive financing major programs that is reconstructing the North East devastated by the activities of the insurgents.

The challenges in the North East and the government’s current enthusiasm have brought accelerated projects and massive opportunities to the region. The creation of productive jobs through private sector growth and improvements in education (skills) remains the major medium-term challenge. So far, the pace of job creation has been inadequate, leading to increasing frustration among underemployed Nigerian youth.

ECONOMIC OUTLOOK

Real gross domestic product (GDP) has largely been unstable but is estimated to be on the rise again, due to continued strong performances mainly in services, but also industry (apart from oil mining) and agriculture. The GDP numbers indicate that telecommunications, real estate, manufacturing, construction, entertainment increased their shares of GDP.

Nevertheless, much lower oil prices will continue to pose strong challenges for public finance at all levels of government during the year, and will also represent a major constraint on the ability of the new federal government to launch some of its ambitious programs. However, the growths in other sectors like trade, manufacturing, infrastructure, ICT and Agriculture have shown that Nigeria is far less dependent on oil. This has led to its rating as Africa’s largest economy.