How has Nigeria’s economic relationship with China evolved in recent years? GEOFFREY ONYEAMA: When the president visited China in 2015, many agreements were signed involving both the government and the private sector. The Chinese are involved in a number of infrastructural projects in Nigeria, because that’s an area we are putting emphasis on. We are evaluating the possibility of making the Chinese…
The licensing of a new state-owned SME bank in Nigeria should address a longstanding key obstacle to broad-based growth in Africa’s largest economy. In a key move, March saw the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) approve the licence for the Development Bank of Nigeria, whose role will include supporting small businesses by offering them competitively priced financing in the form of loans with lower…
Nigeria has long relied on imports to help supply its significant rice demand; however, efforts to support small-scale famers through training and improved access to credit are expected to boost domestic production and the overall performance of the agriculture industry. To help meet national demand of around 5.2m tonnes in 2016, Nigeria imported 2.3m tonnes of rice last year, according to the…
In the face of a housing deficit that numbers in the millions of units, Nigeria is working to increase home ownership by improving access to credit and reducing development costs for low-income housing. Easing mortgage access Earlier this month the federal government announced it would waive an initial 10% payment on mortgages below N5m ($15,700) administered by the state-owned Federal Mortgage…
A combination of external factors should help Nigeria maintain elevated oil production over the short term, with the government hoping to further enhance output through a long-awaited overhaul of the sector’s regulatory framework. An exemption from OPEC’s decision to cut global production, along with a drop in incidents in the oil-producing Niger Delta, have helped sustain the increased…
Lower hydrocarbons revenues, tight capital controls and currency volatility combined to make 2016 a challenging year for Nigeria. By December the country was in recession, facing its first full-year contraction for almost three decades, with the IMF expecting Nigeria’s economy to shrink by 1.7%. Inflation, meanwhile, had climbed to an 11-year high by October. However, the outlook for 2017 appears…
Three years after the start of Nigeria’s power privatisation programme, the government is looking to burnish the attractiveness of the sector by providing a range of new incentives and guarantees. Extending partial risk guarantees In November the World Bank and state-owned Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC) signed a partial risk guarantee (PRG) agreement for integrated gas company Seven…
The Nigerian government is targeting $5bn in mining investments over the next 10 years under a new industry roadmap, as part of a broader drive to diversify revenue sources away from non-oil sectors. In August Kayode Fayemi, the minister of mines and steel development, unveiled a new strategic plan for the sector that targets expanding mining’s contribution to GDP to approximately 7% over the next…
Major developments in recent years - including the fall in global oil prices and the floating of the naira - have catalysed renewed focus on strengthening the Nigerian economy. Including accelerating diversification efforts, capitalising on the country's large population and promoting growth in the private sector. Banking: Borrowing on the rise - Efforts to increase banking inclusion and lending…
With abundant natural resources and a young, dynamic population, the country has long played an important role on the continent and it has the potential to be a wider global player in the coming decades. The new administration is rolling out an ambitious package of substantial reforms – from privatisation measures and anti-corruption campaigns to security assistance – that it hopes can help ov
