Nigeria

While Nigeria’s economy has posted impressive headline growth rates in recent years, its tourism sector has remained relatively underdeveloped. Largely overlooked by a government and investors with other priorities, the industry currently contributes only a small share of GDP. However, calls for greater investment are increasing in volume, with sector leaders pointing out the potential for growth.

A government decision to enact long-awaited mobile number portability (MNP) regulations, together with infrastructure sharing, should go some way towards improving the quality of service in the Nigerian telecommunications market.

The banking industry in Nigeria has pledged to increase lending to the country’s micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and make loans for the segment more affordable, although details of the initiative, such as how it will be funded, have yet to be finalised.

While the latest assessment of Nigeria’s economy carried out by the IMF maintains a robust forecast for annual growth in 2013, it also highlights the challenges the country faces, led by a struggle to balance a stubborn inflation rate with a reduction in unsustainable subsidies.

As evidenced by the constant hum of diesel generators across the country, electricity in Nigeria is a big issue, with low generating capacity having long hampered growth. However, sizable progress has been made over the past month to reverse this trend, with reforms to Nigeria’s power sector underway and efforts to almost double electricity production by the end of 2013 boding well for consumers.

As Africa’s most populous country, its second-biggest economy and a major hydrocarbons producer, Nigeria has often drawn sizable capital inflows but only in recent years have real estate investors taken a studious look at the sector. Supply shortages in some segments, including high-end office space, have pushed prices and rents to highs in some cases above those of developed countries. With more developments coming onto the market in all segments, bottlenecks may ease, but demand looks set to continue its upward trajectory, underpinned by sound economic fundamentals.