The container ship MSC Samantha of the Meriterranean Shipping Company is docked at the Apapa Port Complex in Lagos, Nigeria’s economy hub (Photo by PIUS UTOMI EKPEI / AFP)
Before I delve further into the details of our ongoing efforts in the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investments in the delivery of our mandate, I would like to revisit some fundamental challenges facing our nation today in order to provide the context for some of the major economic initiatives we are implementing at the Federal Government level.
Nigerian economy: Learnings from the past – Our challenges and accomplishments
As many of you may know, the Nigerian economy received much attention and was recognised as one of the fastest-growing economies in the world between 2010 and 2014. Yet when oil prices fell in 2014, the economy contracted and eventually slipped into a recession by 2016. The economy recovered from the recession and we witnessed eleven quarters of consecutive GDP growth since exiting the recession. The GDP grew from 0.8% in 2017 to 2.6% in 2019 but declined in the first quarter of 2020 to 1.9% and we entered another recession in the third quarter of 2020 as a result of the downward trend in global economic activities caused by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The second quarter of 2020 resulted in a contraction in GDP growth to -6.1% and by the third quarter of 2020, a further contraction for the second time in 2020 at -3.6% indicated we were in a recession. Though we were in a recession, our experience was better when compared to some advanced and other emerging market countries. The United States and the United Kingdom experienced a contraction in GDP to -9.5% and -20% respectively in the second quarter of 2020 while the economy of India and South Africa experienced a contraction of -24% and -17% respectively in the same period.