Attracting Investors: Lessons for Nigeria from Asia's 1997 crisis
Lessons from Asia 97

Key questions this article answers:

  1. Asia was celebrated for over two decades (1965-1990) for its strong economic growth and development. What changed in the late 1990s, triggering a financial crisis? 

  2. What lessons can Nigeria learn from the financial crisis that lasted almost two years (1997-1999)?

 

From 1965 to the early 1990s, nations admired most of East Asia for their sustained and fast economic growth, including spectacular improvements in their quality of life. Many called it a miracle, a term that quickly became fine print in our history books and Economics 101 lectures: The East Asian Miracle.

 


Countries like Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia recorded GDP growths ranging from 8% to 13% between 1985 to 1994, while their GDP per capita more than tripled. In Malaysia, for example, GDP per capita grew 4x to $4,260 in 1990 from $1,545 in 1965.

 


But something changed in the late 1990s—precisely, 1997.

East Asia, particularly

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Dumebi Oluwole

Dumebi Oluwole

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