Nigerian real GDP has expanded by 221% since 1996 growing faster than the economies of sub-Saharan Africa and the Frontier Markets both of which benchmarks increased in size by 181% and 193%. But the country’s outstanding engine of economic expansion from 2000 to 2015 has faltered and the cumulative annual average five-year real GDP growth at 1.3% is well below the ten-year annual average growth rate of 2.5%.

Nigeria’s is the most populous state in sub-Saharan Africa and its share of the global population is expected to grow on current trends from 2% in 2010 to 3% by 2030. In common with most African countries a very large proportion of the population ( 80.9% ) is young, below the age of 14, and the median age is only 18.1 years. Nigeria’s economy is overdependent on commodities, particularly oil, and the country needs to harness the labour force to be economically active, but less than half its large relatively young population is in employment.

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