CONTENTS
General Economy of Nigeria (Introduction)
Colonial Economy and Independence
Coups, Military Government and the Biafra War
Current Civilian Governance and Institutionalized Corruption
Summary
List of References
GENERAL ECONOMY OF NIGERIA (INTRODUCTION)
Nigeria is a third world country located in West Africa. It is bound by Niger Republic and Chad to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the south, Cameroun to the east and Benin Republic to the west. Its administrative capital is Abuja, and its commercial capital is Lagos. Nigeria is home to diverse mineral and natural resources such as Petroleum, Cocoa, Rubber and Timber amongst others.
Nigeria has an export-based economy with a GDP of $377.6 billion per annum according to 2010 estimates, which approximates to $2,500 per capita, and the estimated GDP growth rate is 8.2 %. It holds about $33 billion in foreign reserves. Nigeria’s main export is Petroleum which contributes 95% of Nigeria’s foreign exchange holdings and about 80% of budgetary revenues. Nigeria contributes about 3.3% of the world’s petroleum supply at 2.2 million barrels per day; therefore it is the 15th largest oil-producing country in the world.
Nigeria is also blessed with abundant human resources as its labor force is about 47.33 million strong according to 2009 estimates, and its unemployment rate is around 4.9%. The distribution of their labor force per sector and each sector’s contribution to GDP is as follows:
Agriculture -70% of labor force – 41.8% of GDP
Services – 20% of labor force – 29.6% of GDP
Industry – 10% of labor force – 28.6 % of GDP
Nigeria’s agriculture output ranks 25th in the world, and 1st in Africa. However growth in this sector has failed to keep up with Nigeria’s population growth and thus Nigeria imports more agricultural produce than it exports; and this significantly hampers its net output potential in this area. The