Nigeria as Africa’s economic hub
President Muhammadu Buhari’s Midas touch certainly knows no bounds. Think about it. From May 29, 2015 to the end of his four years first term in office on May 29 2019, the country witnessed unprecedented development in all sectors. It is very visible in security, agriculture, in industry, in commerce, in infrastructure, in education, in […]
President Muhammadu Buhari’s Midas touch certainly knows no bounds. Think about it. From May 29, 2015 to the end of his four years first term in office on May 29 2019, the country witnessed unprecedented development in all sectors. It is very visible in security, agriculture, in industry, in commerce, in infrastructure, in education, in health, in power and in fact in all our spheres of national development.
PMB’s giant strides in dealing with security issues like taming Boko Haram, kidnappers, cattle rustlers and enhancing food security for the country through the Anchor borrowers programme; policies of ease of doing business in Nigeria through the fiat of executive orders; massive roads/rail development across all the nooks and crannies of the country; improvement of school enrolment as a result of the school feeding agenda; improvement in health care issues; fighting poverty through the SIP project and other social welfare programmes of the government among others must be noted and credited as milestones for the government. Although the petroleum sector is important, as government revenues still heavily rely on this sector, it remains a small part of the country’s overall economy.
Considering the place of Nigeria in the comity of nations, Nigeria is indeed the darling of future thinking investors across the globe. This is largely because of firstly, the numerous investment opportunities we have in the petroleum and gas sectors, mining among others and secondly due to our population advantage.
Statistics have shown that Nigeria has since overtaken South Africa as Africa’s largest economy in the continent, with more than 200 million people it is the largest market in the continent. Nigeria’s population is nearly twice the size of Ethiopia with 110 million and Egypt’s 102 million.
Experts put Nigeria’s debt-to-GDP ratio at 11 percent, which is 8 percent below the 2012 ratio. In 2018 Nigeria witnessed a capital inflow of $19,07billion while $14.2 was recorded from January to May 2019. Some experts described this as a steady sustainable progress by the PMB administration.
It can be authoritatively reported that the commercial and investment dialogue with the Nigerian government originally recommended by former President Barrack Obama’s Presidential advisory Council on doing business in Africa is now in full force in Nigeria because of its likely high potentials and good returns on investment. To confirm these potentials, the US commercial service hosted the USA trade fair in Lagos, Nigeria which was attended by more than 4, 000 delegates from biggest firms in aviation, agribusiness, consumer, energy, industries and security sectors. The country witnessed direct investment stock from the US to the tune of $5.8 billion in 2017, which was an increase of 32.8% against 2016.
The African continent is becoming a big beneficiary of China’s large-scale investment in renewable, which are vastly cheaper than they were a decade ago. In Nigeria, solar, wind and mini hydro are rapidly filling in the gaps where grid power is unavailable. Local micro or mini grids can as well deliver power to light homes, charge phones, refrigerator medicines, preserve harvested farm produce and bring internet to schools. In Nigeria, demand exceeds supply because of the country’s population strength.
Nigeria’s Central Bank, CBN had recently stated that from available records there was an increase in Foreign Direct Investment, FDI in Nigeria during the 2018 financial period during which total capital inflows to the country stood at $19.07bn out of which FDI accounted for $7.78bn.
CBN further added “Furthermore, total capital flows to Nigeria, from January to May 2019 stood at $14.2bn of which FDI accounted for $2.87bn, representing a 20.18 per cent of the total amount.
In summary, one can confidently and without any fear of contradiction, say that the country has witnessed its current economic and financial fortunes largely due to the friendly policies put in place by the Buhari administration in the country. PMB has for good, moved Nigeria to the next level as the economic hub of Africa.
PMB will forever be remembered as the leader who has transformed the country from a state of dormancy into one with great social, economic, and political fortunes. Nigeria is now on the path of continuous growth and development. Nigeria is as at today the 5th largest economy in Africa.
Musa Ilallah, Emeka Anyaoku street, Abuja.