Diplomatic representation from the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador John CAMPBELL
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 a new reform-minded
administration. Nigeria's former military rulers failed to diversify
the economy away from its 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. In
the last year the government has begun showing 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. In 2003, the
government began deregulating fuel prices, announced the
privatization of the country's four oil refineries, and instituted
the National Economic Empowerment Development Strategy, a
domestically designed and run program modeled on the IMF's Poverty
Reduction and Growth Facility for fiscal and monetary management.
GDP rose strongly in 2005, based largely on increased oil exports
and high global crude prices. In November 2005, Abuja won Paris Club
approval for a historic debt-relief deal that by March 2006 should
eliminate $30 billion worth of Nigeria's total $37 billion external
debt. The deal first requires that Nigeria repay roughly $12 billion
in arrears to its bilateral creditors. Nigeria would then be allowed
to buy back its remaining debt stock at a discount. The deal also
commits Nigeria to more intensified IMF reviews.
GDP (purchasing power parity):
$175.5 billion (2005 est.)
GDP (official exchange rate):
$77.33 billion (2005 est.)
GDP - real growth rate:
6.9% (2005 est.)
GDP - per capita (PPP):
$1,400 (2005 est.)
GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 26.9% industry: 48.7% services: 24.4% (2005 est.)
Labor force: 57.21 million (2005 est.)