MrWeb's MR-a-thon

With economic development hindered by years of military rule and mismanagement Nigeria, long a byword for corruption, has seen the restoration of democracy, economic reform and some progress towards achieving its full economic potential. An abundance of natural resources and well-developed financial, legal and communications sectors mean the country is now classified as a mixed economy emerging market, and has already reached middle income status according to the Worldbank. The Nigerian Stock Exchange is the second largest in Africa.

Oil and debt have dominated the last few decades: both boomed in the 1970s, with heavy foreign infrastructure investment to help exploit reserves; then the oil price slumped in the 1980s, the debt burden became crippling and the country eventually defaulted on principal repayments. After negotiations, Nigeria and its creditors reached an agreement in October 2005 which led to 40% of the debt being quickly repaid and the rest cancelled, freeing up at least $1.15 billion annually for poverty reduction programmes.

Nigeria exported an estimated $76.33bn worth of commodities in 2010, 95% of which were petroleum and petroleum based products. The other main exports were cocoa and rubber. The USA was the main export partner accounting for 34% of trade, other export partners included India, Brazil, Spain and France. Imports for the same time were valued at $34.18bn and were made up of machinery, chemicals, transport equipment, food and animals, with China, the USA and the Netherlands the key partners.