Economy
From The Report: Nigeria 2022
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Nigeria faced new economic headwinds in 2020. While the country’s growth has traditionally been stymied by issues such as electricity shortages, bureaucracy and a lack of transparency, the pandemic added a new set of challenges. GDP contracted by 1.9% in 2020, reversing a three-year period of consistent – albeit moderate – expansion. Youth unemployment, a long-standing challenge for Nigeria, was also exacerbated by the Covid-19 crisis. Nonetheless, the Nigerian economy remains diversified, with the non-oil sector accounting for 90.8% of real GDP in the first quarter of 2021. Moreover, concerted efforts have laid the groundwork for a post-pandemic economic rebound, and the IMF projects that GDP growth will recover and expand through to 2025.

This chapter contains interviews with Yewande Sadiku, Executive Secretary and Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission; and Jumoke Oduwole, Special Business Adviser to the President.

Articles from this Chapter

Overview

Balancing act: Financial support packages aim to facilitate recovery amid budget deficit and inflation concerns
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Nigeria is home to Africa’s largest economy and population, and is an engine for growth in the continent. While the government is largely reliant on oil and gas revenue, the economy itself is more diversified. Indeed, the non-oil sector accounted for 90.8% of real GDP in the first quarter of 2021. Services were the largest contributor to output over that period, comprising 53.9% of GDP, followed by industry (23.8%) and agriculture (22.4%). The federal government has been working to improve the…

Interview

Unique opportunities: Yewande Sadiku, Former CEO, Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC), on efforts to attract investment throughout the country’s 36 states
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Interview:Yewande Sadiku Where can public-private partnerships (PPPs) play a role in boosting Nigeria’s economy? YEWANDE SADIKU: The government’s Economic Recovery and Growth Plan 2017-20 was designed to bring Nigeria out of recession and boost the economy through diversification. Around 20% of the investment required to implement the plan was meant to be financed by federal and state governments, while the remaining 80% was to be sourced from the private sector. We have seen successful…

Interview

Avenues for growth: Jumoke Oduwole, Special Adviser to the President on Ease of Doing Business, and Secretary to the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council, on investment climate reforms
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Interview:Jumoke Oduwole What is being done to support the economy as it recovers from the Covid-19 pandemic? JUMOKE ODUWOLE: In July 2020 Nigeria implemented the Economic Stability Plan (ESP). The 12-month, N2.3trn ($6.1bn) stimulus package included initiatives to support a wide variety of sectors and mitigate the economic ramifications of the health crisis. We have already seen the positive effects of the ESP on the economy in the months since, such as the acceleration of the construction…

Analysis

Road to recovery: Budgetary and stimulus measures to aid post-pandemic expansion
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The Covid-19 pandemic and the corresponding drop in global oil prices caused both a recession and lower inbound investment in the early months of the health crisis in Nigeria. However, GDP and investment figures improved as the economy reopened. Foreign investors shied away from many emerging markets in the early months of 2020 as the pandemic took hold, but levels of pledged foreign investment picked up towards the end of the year. Even as total announced investment fell from $29.9bn in 2019 to…