Not even a month after Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s inauguration on 29 May, he’d carried out major economic reforms advocated for by public analysts and international financial institutions.
There are however deep structural issues to be addressed before Nigeria’s economy can deliver prosperity for Nigerians. The reforms also mustn’t come at the cost of citizens’ wellbeing or the rule of law.
Tinubu inherited a sputtering Nigerian economy, with gross domestic product (GDP) growth rates for 2022 at 3.1 per cent and for the first quarter of 2023 at 2.31 per cent. Nigeria’s recovery from COVID-19-induced trade deficits has also been slow. The 2022 trade surplus at only $2.85 billion pales in comparison to 2014’s $54.1 billion.
Foreign direct investment into Nigeria’s economy fell from $2.2 billion in 2014 to $0.47 million in 2022. The budget deficit has risen by 370.54 per cent from 2016 to 2023, and the cost of debt servicing has exceeded public…
