Nigeria

Many consumers, modest growth

With around 230 million inhabitants, Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa and one of the most important sales markets for German companies on the continent. In order to reduce the country’s dependence on the oil and gas sector, the government has been focussing on economic diversification and incentives for more local production for several years.

The expansion of the energy and transport infrastructure and the consumer goods sector, for example, offer opportunities for companies, not least because of the growing population. The agricultural sector, the healthcare industry and the IT business are also interesting.

The obstacles to investment include inadequate infrastructure in many places, corruption and security risks in some regions of the country.  Added to this are high inflation rates and a weak currency.

Economy. According to the IMF, the economy grew by 2.9 per cent in 2024. For this year and 2026, economists predict growth rates of 3.2 and 3.0 per cent. The gross domestic product per capita fell from the equivalent of 3089 to 1597 US-Dollars since 2014. This is still well above the level it had reached 20 years ago (963). Inflation recently stood at 32.5 per cent and is expected to fall to 25 per cent this year. National debt has reached around 50 per cent of GDP.

Population. Nigeria has around 230 million inhabitants; the population grows with an annual rate of around two per cent. Since 2003, the fertilty rate has fallen from 6.1 to 5.1 children per woman. Life expectancy was at 54 years recently (twenty years ago: 49). Around 60 per cent of the population has access to electricity (twenty years ago: 46.8).

Governance. On Transparency International’s latest Corruption Perceptions Index, Nigeria ranks 140th out of 180 countries. With a score of 26 points (one point more than 2023 and two points more than 2022), Nigeria is on a par with countries such as Cameroon, Mexico and Uganda.

Sources and further information:

World Bank: https://data.worldbank.org/country/nigeria

Africa Business Guide https://www.africa-business-guide.de/de/maerkte/nigeria

Germany Trade & Invest: https://www.gtai.de/resource/blob/15126/f42f82610a821ed540166b7426853fba/GTAI-Wirtschaftsdaten_Dezember_2024_Nigeria.pdf

Transparency International: https://www.transparency.org/en/cpi/2024/index/nga