Key questions this article answers:
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From the Stears national poll, Nigeria’s biggest challenge after insecurity is a weak economy. What is the role of exports in strengthening Nigeria’s economy?
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How can Nigeria’s new president boost exports with limited economic resources?
There’s no easy way to say this, but the Nigerian economy is struggling.
Unlike other emerging market peers like Malaysia, which grew by 8.7% in 2022, Nigeria has barely grown more than 3.5% in the last eight years. For context, Nigeria’s average growth from 2000-2010 was 7.7%.
But slow economic growth is just one symptom of a weak economy. Nigeria also suffers from low GDP per capita, rising inflation, worsening unemployment, financial instability, high debt and general loss of investor and consumer confidence.
Strengthening the economy, which means increasing output, requires growing the components of economic output—or GDP. That is, consumption, investment, government spending, and net exports (exports - Imports)
