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About
Nigeria
Nigeria
is classified as an emerging market, and is rapidly approaching
middle income status, with its abundant supply of resources,
well-developed financial, legal, communications, transport
sectors and stock exchange (the Nigerian Stock Exchange),
which is the second largest in Africa. Nigeria is ranked 37th
in the world in terms of GDP (PPP) as of 2007. Nigeria is
the United States' largest trading partner in sub-Saharan
Africa and supplies a fifth of its oil (11% of oil imports).
It has the seventh-largest trade surplus with the U.S. of
any country worldwide. Nigeria is currently the 50th-largest
export market for U.S. goods and the 14th-largest exporter
of goods to the U.S. The United States is the country's largest
foreign investor.[47] The bulk of economic activity is centred
in 4 main cities: Lagos, Kaduna, Port Harcourt, and Abuja.
Beyond these three economic centers, development is marginal.
Previously,
economic development had been hindered by years of military
rule, corruption, and mismanagement, the restoration of democracy
and subsequent economic reforms have successfully put Nigeria
back on track towards achieving its full economic potential
as one of the Major Economies in Africa.[citation needed]
According to the Economist Intelligence Unit and the World
Bank, Nigerian GDP at purchasing power parity has nearly doubled
from $170.7 billion in 2005 to 292.6 billion in 2007. The
GDP per head has jumped from $692 per person in 2006 to $1,754
per person in 2007.
During
the oil boom of the 1970s, Nigeria accumulated a significant
foreign debt to finance major infrastructural investments.
With the fall of oil prices during the 1980s oil glut Nigeria
struggled to keep up with its loan payments and eventually
defaulted on its principal debt repayments, limiting repayment
to the interest portion of the loans. Arrears and penalty
interest accumulated on the unpaid principal which increased
the size of the debt.
However,
after negotiations by the Nigeria authorities, in October
2005 Nigeria and its Paris Club creditors reached an agreement
in which Nigeria repurchased its debt at a discount of approximately
60%. Nigeria used part of its oil profits to pay the residual
40%, freeing up at least $1.15 billion annually for poverty
reduction programmes. Nigeria made history in April 2006 by
becoming the first African Country to completely pay off its
debt (estimated $30 billion) owed to the Paris Club.
Key sectors
Obafemi Awolowo University Palm farm, Ile-Ife, Nigeria.Nigeria
is the 12th largest producer of petroleum in the world and
the 8th largest exporter, and has the 10th largest proven
reserves. (The country joined OPEC in 1971). Petroleum plays
a large role in the Nigerian economy, accounting for 40% of
GDP and 80% of Government earnings. However, agitation for
better resource control in the Niger Delta, its main oil producing
region, has led to disruptions in oil production and currently
prevents the country from exporting at 100% capacity.[49]
Nigeria
has one of the fastest growing telecommunications markets
in the world, major emerging market operators (like MTN, Etisalat,
Zain and Globacom) basing their largest and most profitable
centres in the country.[50] The government has recently begun
expanding this infrastructure to space based communications.
Nigeria has a space satellite which is monitored at the Nigerian
National Space Research and Development Agency Headquarters
in Abuja.
The country
has a highly developed financial services sector, with a mix
of local and international banks, asset management companies,
brokerage houses, insurance companies and brokers, private
equity funds and investment banks.
Nigeria
also has a wide array of underexploited mineral resources
which include natural gas, coal, bauxite, tantalite, gold,
tin, iron ore, limestone, niobium, lead and zinc. Despite
huge deposits of these natural resources, the mining industry
in Nigeria is still in it infancy.
Agriculture
used to be the principal foreign exchange earner of Nigeria.
At one time, Nigeria was the world's largest exporter of groundnuts,
cocoa, and palm oil and a significant producer of coconuts,
citrus fruits, maize, pearl millet, cassava, yams and sugar
cane. About 60% of Nigerians work in the agricultural sector,
and Nigeria has vast areas of underutilized arable land.
It also
has a manufacturing industry which includes leather and textiles
(centred Kano, Abeokuta, Onitsha, and Lagos), car manufacturing
(for the French car manufacturer Peugeot as well as for the
English truck manufacturer Bedford, now a subsidiary of General
Motors), t-shirts, plastics and processed food.
The country
has recently made considerable amount of revenue from home
made Nigerian Movies which are sold locally and Internationally.
These movies are popular in other African countries and among
African immigrants in Europe.
Demographics
Main article: Demographics of Nigeria
See also: Education in Nigeria and List of Nigerian universities
Population density in NigeriaNigeria is the most populous
country in Africa but exactly how populous is a subject of
speculation. The United Nations estimates that the population
in 2009 was at 154,729,000, distributed as 51.7% rural and
48.3% urban, and with a population density of 167.5 people
per square kilometer. National census results in the past
few decades have been disputed. The results of the most recent
census were released in December 2006 and gave a population
of 140,003,542. The only breakdown available was by gender:
males numbered 71,709,859, females numbered 68,293,08.
According
to the United Nations, Nigeria has been undergoing explosive
population growth and one of the highest growth and fertility
rates in the world. By their projections, Nigeria will be
one of the countries in the world that will account for most
of the world's total population increase by 2050.
According
to current data, one out of every four Africans is Nigerian.[56]
Presently, Nigeria is the eighth most populous country in
the world, and even conservative estimates conclude that more
than 20% of the world's black population lives in Nigeria.
2006 estimates claim 42.3% of the population is between 0–14
years of age, while 54.6% is between 15–65; the birth
rate is significantly higher than the death rate, at 40.4
and 16.9 per 1000 people respectively.
Health,
health care, and general living conditions in Nigeria are
poor. Life expectancy is 47 years (average male/female) and
just over half the population has access to potable water
and appropriate sanitation; the percentage is of children
under five has gone up rather than down between 1990 and 2003
and infant mortality is 97.1 deaths per 1000 live births.
HIV/AIDS rate in Nigeria is much lower compared to the other
African nations such as Kenya or South Africa whose prevalence
(percentage) rates are in the double digits. In 2003, the
HIV prevalence rate among 20 to 29 year-olds was 5.6%. About
Nigeria, like many developing countries, suffers from a polio
crisis as well as periodic outbreaks of cholera, malaria,
and sleeping sickness. As of 2004, there has been a vaccination
drive, spearheaded by the W.H.O., to combat polio and malaria
that has been met with controversy in some regions.
Education
is also in a state of neglect. After the 1970s oil boom, tertiary
education was improved so that it would reach every subregion
of Nigeria. Education is provided free by the government,
but the attendance rate for secondary education is only 29%
(32% for males, 27% for females). The education system has
been described as "dysfunctional" largely because
of decaying institutional infrastructure. 68% of the population
is literate, and the rate for men (75.7%) is higher than that
for women (60.6%).
Nigeria's
largest city is Lagos. Lagos has grown from 300,000 in 1950[60]
to an estimated 15 million today, and the Nigerian government
estimates that city will have expanded to 25 million residents
by 2015.
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