EY-Nigeria-Country-Report

The privatisation of the power
sector should significantly
increase levels of investment
into electricity generation
and distribution, and could
transform the business
environment in Nigeria.
A robust economy
Despite these challenges, and while many
other emerging markets are suffering
from the consequences of global monetary
tightening, the Nigerian economy has
remained remarkably robust. EY recently
developed a heatmap to illustrate the
economic vulnerability of a group of 25
different emerging markets, drawing
on previously published research into
currency and banking crises, and ranking
each country under seven indicators of
risk (current account balance, government
debt, inflation, currency volatility, etc.).
According to these indicators, Nigeria has
the 3rd highest overall ranking among all
these emerging markets (and is also well
ahead of the aggregate ranking for the US,
Japan and Germany). This strong macroeconomic
management coupled with
progress in the political domain, provides
us with confidence that overall growth
rates will continue in the 5-6% zone for the
foreseeable future.
Given these continued growth rates and
the recent GDP rebasing, an improving
business environment, a portfolio of active
infrastructure projects with a value close
to $100b, and, of course, a population of
about 170m people, Nigeria’s billing as
a powerhouse in a dynamic, high growth
region is certainly justified. As a result, we
anticipate that Nigeria will continue to be
a key hub for investment into Africa, and
is likely to emerge as one of the most
attractive developing market investment
destinations in the world in coming years.
3 | Africa by numbers A focus on Nigeria