Total Nigeria merchandising trade stood at N9.12 trillion in the fourth quarter of 2020, representing an 8.9 percent increase relative to the preceding quarter and a 9.9 percent decrease relative to the corresponding quarter of 2019.1 For the fifth consecutive quarter, Nigeria recorded a negative balance of trade with the import component of trade accounting for 65 percent while export component of trade accounted for 35 percent. Crude oil accounted for 78.93 percent of Nigeria’s export while manufactured goods accounted for 64.56 percent of total imports. Nigeria’s major export trading partner is India (17.12 percent) while China (28.28 percent) accounted for most import to Nigeria. Improvements in foreign trade is expected to continue as economic activities in our major trading partner countries increase. However, diversifying the export base to include other goods such as agricultural commodities, textiles, and manufactured goods is pertinent. To achieve this, ensuring standardization of commodities and setting competitive freight charges will unlock the opportunities in external trade.
March 24, 2021
Nigeria Economic Update (Issue 11)
Related
Nigeria Economic Update (Issue 26)
Power sector statistics indicates a huge decline in power generated in the week under review (June 23, 2017 to June 30, 2017). Power generated, attained a peak of 4,305 MW on June 23, 2017 but fell significantly by 33.1 percent to approximately average of 3,000 MW as at June 30, 2017. The huge decline is attributable to continued poor payment and inability of most GENCOs to pay for gas supply and a system collapse. Consequently, power sector lost huge prospective funds; and daily power supply reduced to 4.5 hours per day7. Going forward, improvement in energy supply is critical to domestic production, job creation, and diversification agenda of the government.