Nigeria, the Trigger of Africa: A Great Hidden Investment Destination

Nigeria, the Trigger of Africa: A Great Hidden Investment Destination

he map of Africa looks like a gun. If you look at the trigger point of that gun, you'd see a country named Nigeria. That is the 8th most populous country on the Planet and the most populous country on the African continent with a population projected at over 260,000,000 by 2050 (Internet World Stats). It is the only African country that makes it to the top 10 most populous country list. Nigeria is considered by many analysts as 'mini Africa' with 1 in every 5 Africans being Nigerians.

If you consider that Nigeria occupies a far 40th position in the world and 14th in Africa in terms of land mass (with a surface area of ​​923,768 square km), and the fact that hunger, war and disease have highly reduced populations in Africa, you wonder why Nigeria has done so well in terms of population. What is the secret? The secret is that Nigeria is one of the most fertile points on the Earth surface. That is why it has defied the prevailing harsh situations in Africa to record relative high population. This fertility can be accounted for in terms of natural as well as human endowments.

Naturally, Nigeria is blessed with a very rich extractive industry. Apart from wide stretches of arable land that dot the country, it also boasts countless rich deposits of some of the Earth's most valued solid, liquid and gaseous natural resources. Of course chief among all these is crude oil - the black gold. Nigeria is the 11th country with the largest deposit of crude worldwide with an estimated volume of 37,200 MMbbl. In terms of actual oil production, Nigeria ranks 12th with 2,525,000 bbl / day (source: Wikipedia and CIA World Factbook).

In terms of human endowments, Nigeria is the home country to millions of globally acclaimed professionals. Philip Emeagwali, the acclaimed inventor of the world's fastest computer (the Supercomputer), and which is seen as the most immediate precursor to the Internet, is a Nigerian. He is the winner of the Gordon Bell Prize of 1989 and has been voted the greatest African scientist of all time. This is only representative. Nigeria has globally recognized professionals in all fields including medicine, mathematics, sports, economics, literature and more and more.

Apart from all these indices, I think that what reveals Nigeria mostly in recent times as a global investment destination is the ground breaking 2005 research by the erudite Goldman Sachs economist Jim O'Neil which places Nigeria among the N-11 (the next eleven) group of emerging economies. It may interest you to note that an earlier research in 2003 by the same person had produced the BRIC group of emerging economies. These concepts have since become a factor in global economic considerations.

The above research was published far before Nigeria became a stable democracy. Since the attainment of democracy in 1999, the economic hopes of Nigeria has since been increasingly rekindled far beyond the Goldman Sachs projections. Thus in 2010, Nigeria with a growth rate of 7.4% was rated the 3rd fastest growing economy on earth behind China and India according to IMF statistics (http://ngmix.net/lib/vendor/web/articles/2/3554. html). Is this milestone not far beyond the Goldman Sachs projection? In the following year (2011), the Nigerian economy was the 4th fastest growing according to an official statement from the UK Government 

(http://www.vanguardngr.com/2011/03/nigeria-4th-fastest-growing-economy- uk-govt /). Although this was a drop in position, there was an improvement in the actual volume of growth (from 7.4 to 7.5%) that year according to Business Insider (http://www.businessinsider.com/countries-with-the-fastest- growing-gdp-in-the-world-2011-10? op = 1). Other improvements include increased access to justice, access to health care and high relevance for the rule of law. This should give every investment prospector serious reasons to consider investing in Nigeria.

The point of this article has been to reveal the hidden investment prospects in this country, and not to market the country as the best economy on earth. This is why we have focused on the growth recorded recently. Growth means that the country has begun to get things right, and that is what makes the future bright for the economy. But the present state of things might hide this huge prospects before those who lack investment foresight. Although the country is struggling with insecurity and corruption stemming mainly from a system of past rules, this should not becloud the present milestones.