Macroeconomic Report & Economic Updates
November 6, 2017
Nigeria Economic Update (Issue 43)
Crude oil prices have sustained upward increases for the past few weeks in October. While upward trajectory of crude oil prices is expected to be sustained in the short term in line with OPECs production cuts deal expected to run until March 2018, it is important to note that crude oil prices would remain volatile. The Nigerian government therefore should take advantage of periods of high revenue from crude oil exports to develop other sectors (such as Agriculture, Manufacturing and Services sectors) of the economy as key exporting and revenue generation sectors, and thus minimize volatility risks
Related
Nigeria Economic Update (Issue 22)
Power
sector analysis shows a decline in power generated by 15.07 percent from a peak
of 3,424 mw to 2,908 mw between May 8, 2016 and May 15, 20169. The
declining power supply is attributable to vandalism of pipelines and gas
shortages, which has a debilitating effect on power generation. As part of the
efforts by the Federal Government to improve power supply in the country, the
Bank of Industry (BoI) is currently funding intervention projects to provide
alternative source of energy (solar) in rural areas across the country10.
Since the major problem facing power generation in the country is gas
shortages, the government should make concerted efforts to combat vandalism.
Infrastructure Financing In Nigeria:
Similar to most sub-Saharan
African (SSA) countries, Nigeria has a huge infrastructure deficit which
considerably limits efforts towards achieving inclusive growth, sustainable
development, and poverty reduction. With infrastructure stock estimated at
20-25 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), Nigerias infrastructure stock
is still significantly lower than the recommended international benchmark of 70
per cent of GDP. The 2014 National Integrated Infrastructure Master Plan (NIMP)
estimates that a total of US$ 3 trillion of investments, or US$100 billion
annually, is required over the next 30 years to bridge Nigerias infrastructure
gap. In particular, the Plan estimates that Nigeria will have to spend an
annual average of US$ 33 billion infrastructure investments for the period 2014
-2018. This means that Nigeria will have to more than double its spending on infrastructure
from the current 2-3 per cent of GDP to around 7 per cent to make appreciable
progress in infrastructure development over the next three decades.