Monetary & Banking 

Country name:

conventional long form: Federal Republic of Nigeria
conventional short form: Nigeria

 

 

Capital:

Abuja. Population: 1.4 million (2006 census). Lagos, which was the capital until 1991, is the largest urban agglomeration with 10 million (UN estimate 2003).

 

 

Location:

Western Africa, bordering the Gulf of Guinea, between Benin and Cameroon

 

 

Area:

923,768 sq km (356,669 sq miles).
 

Description:
Nigeria has borders with Niger to the north, Chad (across Lake Chad) to the northeast, Cameroon to the east and Benin to the west. To the south, the Gulf of Guinea is indented by the Bight of Benin and the Bight of Biafra. The country’s topography and vegetation vary considerably. The coastal region is a low-lying area of lagoons, sandy beaches and mangrove swamps, which merges into an area of rainforest where palm trees grow to over 30m (100ft). From here, the landscape changes to savannah and open woodland, rising to the Central Jos Plateau at 1,800m (6,000ft). The northern part of the country is desert and semi-desert, marking the southern extent of the Sahara.

 

Population:

130.2 million (UN estimate 2005).
 

 

Languages:

The official language is English. A variation of English (Pidgin English) is also spoken. The three main Nigerian languages are Yoruba, Ibo (also spelt Igbo) and Hausa; another 400 languages are also spoken in the country
 

 

Climate:
Varies from area to area. The southern coast is hot and humid with a rainy season from March to November. During the dry season, the Harmattan wind blows from the Sahara. The north’s rainy season is from July to September. Nights can be cold in December and January.

Economy - overview:
Nigeria is Africa’s largest oil producer; the industry earns 90% of the country’s export income and has underpinned its economy for decades. Nigeria also has commercially viable quantities of tin, coal, iron ore, zinc and some uranium, plus substantial but as yet largely untapped reserves of natural gas and coal.
Agriculture occupies well over half of the population, who produce rice, maize, cassava, sorghum and millet as staples, as well as groundnuts, cocoa, palm oil and rubber as cash crops. Timber and livestock rearing have both developed during the last 20 years. Nonetheless, successive governments have failed to restore Nigeria’s one-time self-sufficiency in food.
Manufacturing was established during the 1960s, principally with oil money, and now includes food processing and the production of vehicles, textiles, pharmaceuticals, paper and cement.
Per capita GDP is around US$690 annually, which is improved but still not desirable. The country is weighed down by a massive foreign debt. Reduction negotiations have been completed with the ��?Paris Club’ of leading creditors. As a condition of the rescheduling, the government has begun to put into effect economic reforms, including the sale of major state-owned industries.
Recent economic performance has been determined mainly by the state of the world oil market. Governmental deregulation of fuel prices and the privatisation of Nigeria's four oil refineries in 2003, coupled with the rise in oil production, meant that recent GDP growth has been good, estimated at around 6.2% in 2005.
Nigeria is the dominant member of the West African economic cooperation organisation, ECOWAS, as well as a leading member of the oil producers’ cartel, OPEC.

Economy:
Nigeria is Africa’s largest oil producer; the industry earns 90% of the country’s export income and has underpinned its economy for decades. Nigeria also has commercially viable quantities of tin, coal, iron ore, zinc and some uranium, plus substantial but as yet largely untapped reserves of natural gas and coal.
Agriculture occupies well over half of the population, who produce rice, maize, cassava, sorghum and millet as staples, as well as groundnuts, cocoa, palm oil and rubber as cash crops. Timber and livestock rearing have both developed during the last 20 years. Nonetheless, successive governments have failed to restore Nigeria’s one-time self-sufficiency in food.
Manufacturing was established during the 1960s, principally with oil money, and now includes food processing and the production of vehicles, textiles, pharmaceuticals, paper and cement.
Per capita GDP is around US$690 annually, which is improved but still not desirable. The country is weighed down by a massive foreign debt. Reduction negotiations have been completed with the ��?Paris Club’ of leading creditors. As a condition of the rescheduling, the government has begun to put into effect economic reforms, including the sale of major state-owned industries.
Recent economic performance has been determined mainly by the state of the world oil market. Governmental deregulation of fuel prices and the privatisation of Nigeria's four oil refineries in 2003, coupled with the rise in oil production, meant that recent GDP growth has been good, estimated at around 6.2% in 2005.
Nigeria is the dominant member of the West African economic cooperation organisation, ECOWAS, as well as a leading member of the oil producers’ cartel, OPEC.
 

 

Industries:

crude oil, coal, tin, columbite, palm oil, peanuts, cotton, rubber, wood, hides and skins, textiles, cement and other construction materials, food products, footwear, chemicals, fertilizer, printing, ceramics, steel