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With a total premium value of $1.6bn in 2011, Nigeria’s insurance market is the biggest in West Africa, but in a wider context the market remains relatively undeveloped and coverage in the retail market is mostly limited to motor insurance. Issues including prohibitive costs, inconsistent enforcement of mandatory coverage, fake insurers and policies damaging the sector’s reputation, and a fragmented market of small and undercapitalised providers have presented impediments to the sector’s growth. Although top-line expansion has not fulfilled expectations for the overall value of the market, insurers and the regulator are continuing to explore avenues for growth while removing obstacles. A leap in market size is expected in the current decade thanks to continued policy efforts and steady growth in disposable incomes for middle-class Nigerians. This chapter contains an interview with Fola Daniel, Commissioner for Insurance, National Insurance Commission.

Following a significant overhaul of the sector in 2012, Nigerian banks recorded their strongest performance since the onset of the banking crisis in 2009. The central bank has seized on recent bank restructuring to implement broader structural reforms aimed at safeguarding against future crises. Nigeria boasts a diverse financial sector. In contrast to most other sub-Saharan markets, foreign banks controlled only 13.6% of sector assets in 2012, according to the IMF. With the cleaning of balance sheets over the past two years, a consolidated and restructured market has emerged, and competition and lending are set to increase over the coming years. This chapter contains a viewpoint from Lamido Sanusi, Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria, and a roundtable with Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede, CEO, Access Bank; Bisi Onasanya, CEO, First Bank of Nigeria; Segun Agbaje, CEO, Guaranty Trust Bank; and Phillips Oduoza, CEO, United Bank for Africa.

Nigeria has achieved consistently high growth over the past decade, including 7.4% in 2011 and 6.6% in 2012, according to the African Development Bank. This expansion makes Nigeria one of the continent’s most consistent performers, with over twice South Africa’s average growth. The IMF forecasts economic growth of 7.2% in 2013 and 7% in 2014. Non-oil GDP is expected to rise 8.5% in 2013, according to the Nigerian Economic Summit group. The reforms being enacted – establishing a gas-to-power value chain, expanding the industrial base and leveraging agricultural potential to reduce imports – have been applauded by investors and development partners. Ensuring full implementation of the federal government’s economic diversification strategy in the run-up to the 2015 presidential and state governor elections will be key to accelerating and broadening growth. This chapter contains a viewpoint from Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance, and interviews with Frank Nweke II, Director-General, Nigerian Economic Summit Group; Mustafa Bello, CEO, Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission; and Ed Fast, Canadian Minister of International Trade.

This section includes articles about the city of Constantine and about reforms to the book industry, as well as information on hotels, government offices and other listings, alongside useful tips for visitors on topics like currency, visas, language, communications, dress, business hours and electricity.

In conjunction with Mazars Algeria, OBG explores the taxation system, examining Algeria’s investor-friendly environment. This chapter contains a viewpoint from Samir Hadj Ali, Managing Partner, Mazars Algeria.

OBG introduces the reader to the different aspects of the legal system in Algeria, in partnership with Gide Loyrette Nouel. This chapter contains an interview with Samy Laghouati, Managing Partner, Gide Loyrette Nouel.