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In the six decades since independence, the national health care network has improved on a piecemeal basis, driven primarily by a handful of international organisations and, more recently, government entities at the federal, state and local levels. The sector is guided by the National Strategic Health Development Plan (2010-15), which runs alongside the wider aims outlined in the Vision 20:2020 strategy. With a new federal health bill in the works and steadily increasing private sector participation in many areas, Nigeria’s health care sector is potentially on the brink of a period of sustained expansion.

The education sector was allocated $2.69bn in the 2013 federal budget, making it the highest recipient of government spending. A large youth population –estimated at 75m people – points to rapidly expanding demand for education and training of all types for years to come. Boosting private sector activity, particularly at the primary level, continues to be a fundamental objective of the government’s long-term plans for the sector. Other key focus areas include information and communications technology and the TVET segment, both of which will likely benefit from more private sector investment in the coming years. This chapter contains a viewpoint from Enase Okonedo, Dean, Lagos Business Schools, and Chairperson, Association of African Business Schools.

Known as the “pace setter state”, Oyo borders the states of Ogun, Osun and Kwara, as well as Benin in south-west Nigeria. Oyo’s natural resources are most suited to agriculture production and processing with an abundance of uncultivated arable land and reserves of gold, marble, clay and granite, among others. While economic indicators compare favourably to other states, the government is working to strengthen output in the secondary and tertiary sectors, as well as attract new investments. Businesses in the state face challenges posed by infrastructure bottlenecks, but new policies, developed in conjunction with federal programmes, are helping to incentivise investment by strengthening Oyo’s competitive advantages. This chapter contains an interview with Abiola Ajimobi, Governor of Oyo State.

Over the past few decades Nigeria’s media and entertainment industry has developed into one of the liveliest in Africa. The country has one of the largest television markets in Africa and the film industry – nicknamed “Nollywood” – is one of the largest in the world by number of films released. Nigeria’s media, entertainment and advertising industries continue to face a number of interrelated challenges, including underdeveloped transport infrastructure and the unreliable electricity grid. Despite these issues, media firms, advertising agencies, and film and music production companies are broadly optimistic and Nigeria is uniquely situated to become a key international player in many of these areas. This chapter contains an interview with Alex Okosi, Senior Vice-President and Managing Director, Viacom International Media Networks Africa.

Rapid population growth, steadily increasing urbanisation and rising incomes – particularly among the middle class – have fuelled expansion in Nigeria’s real estate sector over the past decade, and are expected to continue to drive growth in the industry. While most segments have seen increased investment in recent years, the country remains undersupplied in virtually every area, particularly affordable housing, high-quality retail space and grade-A office space. Activity in Nigeria’s construction industry is expected to continue to rise for the foreseeable future, despite softening demand in a handful of segments due to exogenous factors. The supply and demand differential in the power generation and housing segments alone is expected to result in trillions of naira worth of federal- and state-led investments through 2020. At the same time, the industry faces a number of challenges, notably construction costs and security issues. This chapter contains an interview with Nick Lambert, Head of Complex and Emerging Markets, CBRE.

Underinvestment has led to a shortage of capacity for a country of nearly 170m people, and as GDP growth continues to surpass 7%, the resulting increase in both consumption and production means there is sizeable scope for investment in roads, ports, bridges, airports and other facilities. The government has thus embarked on the process of eliminating institutional obstacles and incentivising private investment, with the hope for steady improvement for the long term. Concessioning at the ports has been a successful early step, for example, as is a revitalised railway system. This chapter contains an interview with Peter Kieran, President, CPCS.