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The World Bank Tuesday said there had been positive economic trend as well as significant progress made towards poverty eradication in the country.

It said in its second edition of the Nigeria Economic Report (NER) which was launched in Abuja that going by the recent rebasing of the economy as well as analysis from the new General Household Surveys (GHS) conducted by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) with the support of the Bank, new poverty estimates in 2010/2011 and 2012/2013 should be within the range of 35.2 per cent and 33.1 per cent respectively.

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STORY HIGHLIGHTS
# The Nigeria Economic Report cites positive economic trends for the country and predicts higher growth in 2014
# The report highlights two potential risks, coming from oil prices and short-term capital flows
# The report provides a reassessment of poverty and living standards in Nigeria, concluding that poverty rates are likely lower than previously believed, but highly uneven across Nigerian regions

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· The new (re-based) gross domestic product (GDP) numbers for 2010-2013 offer a very different picture from previous numbers. The pace of annual GDP growth is somewhat slower, averaging 5% during this period.


The Nigerian economy is revealed to be far more diversified and dynamic than previous numbers would suggest, with significant contributions to growth coming from manufacturing and various services that were underestimated in the past. The nature of this growth implies that it is much more concentrated in urban areas than previously believed. Average growth in agriculture was only 4.2% during 2011-2013, and is estimated to have fallen under to under 3% in each of 2011 and 2013. Thus, growth in agriculture in many rural areas in Nigeria would appear to be not much greater than population growth, which is estimated at close to 3% for the nation.

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The NER then provides an updated analysis of poverty and living standards in Nigeria based on a panel survey of 5,000 households that was carried out in 2010/2011 and 2012/2013 as part of the General Household Survey of the Nigeria National Bureau of Statistics. The results are generally consistent with the newly re-based GDP numbers:

· The panel survey gives evidence that the per capital poverty rate (Nigerian definition based on less than 3000 calorie-a-day consumption) is significantly lower than had been previously estimated. From this survey, it is estimated that 33.1% of the population lived below the poverty line in 2012/2013.

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· Poverty is much lower in urban areas (12.6%) than in rural areas (44.9%), and the urban poverty reduction dynamic is much stronger.
The NER also documents major differences in poverty and living standards by macro-region in Nigeria. While the South of Nigeria has relatively low poverty rates, ranging from 16% in the South West to 28.8% in the South East, poverty rates in the North West and North East are 45.9% and 50.2%, respectively. While the South of Nigeria (especially the South West) has experienced a strong positive dynamic in poverty reduction in recent years, the poverty rate in the North West has remained stagnant, while poverty has actually increased in the North East. Thus, disparities between the North (North West, North East) and South of Nigeria in poverty and living standards have increased. This is no doubt related to the recent security challenges in the Northern part of Nigeria. Explanatory factors for the high differences in living standards by geographical region are likely related to differences in the provision of public services and the degree of connectedness to larger markets.

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The World Bank says poverty rate in Nigeria has dropped from 35.2 per cent of population in 2010 / 2011 to 33.1 per cent in 2012 / 2013.
Mr John Litwack, the bank’s Acting Country Manager and Lead Economist, stated this during a media launch of the Nigeria Economic Report in Abuja.


Litwack said that the decrease represents a dramatic drop from an estimated poverty rate of 62.2 per cent recorded between 2009 and 2010 based on the Harmonised Nigeria Living Standard Statistics (HNLSS).

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Posts: 2560 | From: Somewhere | Registered: May 2012  |  IP: Logged | 

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Nigeria’s non-oil exports are on the rise as official commodities exported by end of 2013 rose to 117, from 106 reported by year-end 2012, data from the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) has shown. This indicates an addition of 11 products to the number recorded in 2012.

Similarly, the NEPC in 2013 embarked on 13 export outings with 126 companies, mostly small- and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs). Total orders generated by these companies within the period were worth $3.716 billion, immediate sales totalled $627,108, while executed orders reached $763,247.


The 11 new products include Robusta coffee exported to Spain, educational books shipped to Sierra Leone, double folded dust sheets exported to the United Kingdom, ice making machines bound for Ghana, and Mica Muscovite exported to India, according to information from Cobalt International Services, the Federal Government-licensed agent that calculates non-oil exports outings.


Others are leather furniture to Benin Republic, reduced iron and iron pellets to Bulgaria, India and Ghana, high density polyethylene to several countries, cut flowers to the Netherlands, fresh produce to the UK, and garments (T-shirts and boxers) to the United States of America.


These commodities are additions to traditional export products such as cocoa and cocoa preparations, copper, cashew nuts and edible nuts, prawns, shrimps, fish and crustaceans, tobacco products, plastics and rubber footwear, noodles and biscuits, poly bags, milk products, iron and steel, insecticides, beverages, tomato paste and fruit juice, among others.




“Made-in-Nigeria products elicit great demand as customers marvelled at the quality and wondered if they were ever produced in Nigeria,” said Olusegun Awolowo, CEO, NEPC, in a document made available to BusinessDay.

Nigeria’s non-oil exports totalled $2.97 billion in 2013, recording 16 percent increase from $2.56 billion recorded in 2012. NEPC data shows top export products and destinations as leather, rubber, wood and articles of wood, charcoal, plastics and articles to Italy; cocoa, wood and articles of wood, charcoal, prawns and fish to the Netherlands; leather, cocoa, prawns and fish to Spain; and cashew nuts, copper, aluminium and articles to India.

Others are cocoa and Gum Arabic to France; cocoa, cocoa products, and rubber to the UK; cocoa, plastic, articles and rubber to Belgium; cashew nuts and edible fruits to Vietnam; leather, aluminium, articles, plastics, copper and rubber to China; and cocoa and Gum Arabic to Germany.


Tunde Oyelola, chairman, Manufacturers Association of Nigeria Export Group (MANEG), believes non-oil exports could do better if the Federal Government reverses suspension on the Export Expansion Grant (EEG), an instrument meant to assist non-oil exporters so they can be competitive in the export market.

“Since 2005, the EEG scheme has been suspended eight times. The situation has created uncertainty among non-oil exporters. Non-acceptance of Negotiable Deposit Credit Certificates (NDCCs), instruments used in the EEG scheme, prompts exporters to incur cost for duties which NDCC is meant to cover,” Oyelola said.

Badaru Mohammed Abubakar, national president, Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA), said to push the non-oil sector further upwards, border markets must be developed, non-oil commodities funded, and infrastructural developed.

He added that there must be logistics to support supply value added chain, increase in dominance of primary commodities and high productive capacity.

“We must empower SMEs through entrepreneurship; develop agro-allied industries; package and label standards of made-in Nigeria products; and focus on the comparative and competitive advantages,” he stressed.

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Posts: 2560 | From: Somewhere | Registered: May 2012  |  IP: Logged | 

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Nigeria's corruption busters

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UNODC Executive Director Antonio Maria Costa and EFCC Chairman Nuhu Ribadi20 November - Nigeria used to be synonymous with corruption just a few years ago. Unscrupulous leaders pilfered the national coffers and stashed away billions of dollars in foreign bank accounts. By some estimates close to US $400 billion was stolen between 1960 and 1999. Sani Abacha alone is estimated to have stolen the equivalent of 2 - 3 per cent of the country's GDP for every year that he was President.


That is a staggering - almost "astronomical" - amount of money because if you were to put 400 billion dollar bills end-to-end, you could make 75 round trips to the moon! Concretely, those 400 billion dollars could have translated into millions of vaccinations for children; thousands of kilometres of roads; hundreds of schools, hospitals and water treatment facilities that never came to be.

But Nigeria is fighting back. It has waged a war against inefficiency and endemic corruption and today it is winning. There is nothing short of a "corruption climate change" in the air.The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) led by fearless "crime-buster" Nuhu Ribadu is the most successful anti-corruption agency in Africa and is setting an example to the rest of the world.It is enhancing good governance and financial accountability while helping reduce fraud, waste and corruption.

Nigeria is Africa's biggest oil exporter, but its natural resources make it particularly vulnerable to corruption. The oil-rich Niger Delta is a case in point.Corruption deters much-needed foreign investment, which keeps countries mired in poverty and its people deprived. Huge revenues from oil or gas reserves mean low taxes, but also low accountability and a lack of transparency, as well as limited public services. The EFCC is an initiative that could help reduce vulnerability to corruption, bad governance and poverty caused by greed for lucrative oil wealth and plough that money back where it is needed - in social and economic development programmes.

Last week, at the Nigerian All Judges Conference held in Abuja, UNODC assessed Nigeria's track record over the last seven years in important areas, such as improving the quality of justice, especially for the poor, and strengthening integrity, accountability and independence in the judiciary. It found that Nigeria had taken bold steps to remove corrupt justice officials and staff. Nigeria is making strides in improving citizens' access to justice.

Such efforts are starting to show significant results. In three states that have established pilot programmes, public confidence has increased as bribery and political influence decrease. For example, whereas in 2002, prisoners in remand waited more than 30 months before their trial concluded, in 2007 the wait was down to less than 12 months. In 2002 more than 40% of court users were asked for bribes to expedite their court cases - in 2007 it were less than 10 per cent. And most importantly, while in 2002 more than 40 per cent of court users claimed that they would not use the courts again, in 2007 only 20 per cent shared that view.

Nigeria's anti-graft war is proving that there are no sacred cows left when it comes to tackling corruption. That sends a strong message of hope across the continent and beyond.

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Posts: 2560 | From: Somewhere | Registered: May 2012  |  IP: Logged | 

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USA shell oil exploration is causing the price of oil to go down. The low price of oil will hurt Nigerian and other OPEC countries economy.

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Posts: 5492 | Registered: Nov 2004  |  IP: Logged |