Diplomatic representation from the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador Howard Franklin JETER
embassy: 7 Mambilla Drive, Abuja
mailing address: P. O. Box 554, Lagos
telephone: [234] (9) 523-0916/0906/5857/2235/2205
FAX: [234] (9) 523-0353
Flag description:
three equal vertical bands of green (hoist side), white, and green
Economy Nigeria
Economy - overview:
Oil-rich Nigeria, long hobbled by political instability,
corruption, inadequate infrastructure, and poor macroeconomic
management, is undertaking some reforms under the new civilian
administration. Nigeria's former military rulers failed to diversify
the economy away from overdependence on the capital-intensive oil
sector, which provides 20% of GDP, 95% of foreign exchange earnings,
and about 65% of budgetary revenues. The largely subsistence
agricultural sector has failed to keep up with rapid population
growth - Nigeria is Africa's most populous country - and the
country, once a large net exporter of food, now must import food.
Following the signing of an IMF stand-by agreement in August 2000,
Nigeria received a debt-restructuring deal from the Paris Club and a
$1 billion credit from the IMF, both contingent on economic reforms.
Nigeria pulled out of its IMF program in April 2002, after failing
to meet spending and exchange rate targets, making it ineligible for
additional debt forgiveness from the Paris Club. The government has
lacked the political will to implement the market-oriented reforms
urged by the IMF, such as to modernize the banking system, to curb
inflation by blocking excessive wage demands, and to resolve
regional disputes over the distribution of earnings from the oil
industry. During 2003, however, the government deregulated fuel
prices and announced the privatization of the country's four oil
refineries. GDP growth probably will rise marginally in 2004, led by
oil and natural gas exports.
GDP:
purchasing power parity - $114.8 billion (2003 est.)
GDP - real growth rate:
7.1% (2003 est.)
GDP - per capita:
purchasing power parity - $900 (2003 est.)
GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 30.8% industry: 43.8% services: 25.4% (2003 est.)
Investment (gross fixed):
27.7% of GDP (2003)
Population below poverty line:
60% (2000 est.)