NIGERIA Invest in 2012-13 - Newsdesk Media

But it is inevitably the oil industry and world events that determine the oil price that will
have a powerful, short-term effect on Nigeria’s fortunes. The current high oil price ensures that
Nigeria’s income can continue to grow from natural resources, but this should improve further
as greater efficiencies and more local players are able to participate in this industry. How
this can be achieved will also depend on a careful assessment of the manner in which this
resource is harnessed and utilised.
Being the world’s eighth largest exporter, as well as being the second largest supplier of oil
to the US, means that Nigeria has a huge role to play in how the global economy develops. Both
on a global level and a national level, Nigerians have woken up to the responsibilities that
owning this powerful asset assumes. With this in mind, the sovereign wealth fund was created to
ensure that capital raised from the sale of oil assets is carefully managed. This in turn ensures
the best returns which can then be employed both to maintain the economy and improve the
welfare of Nigerians in the long-term.
As the country’s wealth improves, the trappings of a highly developed state will be
seen more clearly. Not only will the cultural values of the country – espoused by our greater
writers and globally renowned film industry – develop further, but tourism is also likely to
become a growing industry for us. In turn, that creates a further burden on ensuring, for
example, that a number of our airports are of an international standard to cope with the
increased traffic. But those are the challenges of a country keen to deliver on its ambitions
of becoming one of the most important economies in the world in the years to come, and we
are ready to meet them.
FOREWORD 17
InvEst In nIGERIA 2012-13