What are we talking about? If there is any investor out there thinking why they should be investing in Nigeria? Then here are some indicators which can help them with their decision making. Developing countries like Brazil, India and South Africa have proven to be great locations to invest in the last 2 decades. Perhaps it is time investors explore more of such economies and one of them certainly is Nigeria.
Abundant Natural Resources Some of the natural resources found in Nigeria are natural gas, petroleum, tin, iron ore, coal, limestone, niobium, lead, zinc, and arable land. Nigeria is the largest oil producer in Africa and is ranked the 10th largest oil producer internationally. The Oil sector contributes to 28% of the countries GDP. With such dependency on natural resources, investors can confidently invest in businesses like mining, oil exploration, oil refineries etc. Also with oil being their major contributor and demand for oil not going down anytime in the future, one can foresee a stable economic future for Nigeria. Investors are usually concerned about the stability and continuity and this type of economy is sustainable in the long run.
Robust Economy Nigeria has been attracting maximum foreign direct investment when compared to other countries in Africa. Recent economic figures released show Nigeria as the largest economy in Africa with a GDP of $510 billion. Along with the oil sector, Nigeria is witnessing a healthy growth in agriculture, communication and service sector. The government has managed to create a very business friendly climate through its policy measures. The thrust through different policies and programmes is to push Nigeria to a free market economy. This has resulted in a very efficient bureaucratic system which is streamlined to eliminate any avoidable delays which can have negative impact on the investment friendly climate.
Infrastructure When compared to some other African countries Nigeria has relatively advanced infrastructure facilities like power, ports and air transport. Other areas like communication, drinking water and irrigation are also seeing a lot of progress. After the reforms the telecom sector is seeing an explosive growth. When it comes to roads the country is covered by a network of federal and secondary roads. Nigeria also has 4 international airports and 6 seaports. With such facilities in place, if there is any country you can invest your money on in Africa then it can only be Nigeria.
Dynamic Private Sector Nigeria is planning to upscale its economy in the next 10 years to a middle income economy. One of the ways identified by government to work towards this is through public private partnerships. One great example of how a private sector has managed to play a critical role is the Eco Atlantic development done in the country s commercial hub Lagos. Here the project aims at building business and residential areas on a land reclaimed from the Atlantic Ocean. The Eco Atlantic project is completely overseen by private sector. The South Energyx Nigeria, a subsidiary of the Chagoury group is in charge of this. Another area which is seeing a lot of private sector involvement is electricity generation and distribution. With a promising economic future, the private sector participation is only going to increase and this augurs well for investors looking to invest in Nigeria.
Huge domestic market As per the report published on Investment U, Nigeria is identified as having a large domestic market with considerable demand for goods and services produced domestically. As the economy is growing, Nigeria is witnessing growth of increasingly sophisticated middle class. Middle class is an engine of growth which will further push the Nigerian economy. The presence of a large middle class means for investors a huge domestic market for any business they plan to invest in. Now with a population of 173 million Nigeria is the world s seventh most populous country. Analysts see the population growth pattern as similar to that witnessed in Asia between 1970 and 2000. One of the reasons for growth seen in Asia was due to the increasing share of working age population.
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