World Grain - February 2019 - 20

COUNTRY FOCUS

FOCUS ON

NIGERIA
Heavily populated country a major
wheat importer
by Chris Lyddon

Nigeria imports large quantities of grain to feed its big population. Wheat is important to the diet of many Nigerians, but the
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and other products consumers require.
The International Grains Council (IGC) puts Nigeria's total
grains production in 2018-19 at 19.1 million tonnes, up from
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11 million tonnes of corn and 6.5 million of sorghum, up from the
previous year's 6.3-million-tonne crop.
Total imports of grains in Nigeria (which comprises wheat and
coarse grains) are forecast at 5.6 million tonnes in 2018-19, up
from 5.5 million the year before. Most of the country's imports
are wheat, with imports forecast unchanged at 5.2 million tonnes.
Nigeria is also forecast to import 110,000 tonnes of durum wheat,
up from 100,000 in 2017-18. The IGC puts Nigeria's rice crop in
2018 unchanged at 3.8 million tonnes, with rice imports also at 3
million tonnes, up from 2.4 million the previous year.
In an update issued on Dec. 18, the USDA's attaché in
Nigeria forecast the country's 2018-19 wheat imSRUWVDWPLOOLRQWRQQHVXSIURPD¿JXUH
of 5.2 million the year before, attributing the increase to "millers' greater
access to foreign exchange."
"Food import bans are the
cornerstone of the Nigerian
government's agricultural development and food security
agenda," the update noted.
"Nigeria imposes a 10% tariff and a 60% levy (totaling
70%) on imported rice (arriving by sea), when it authorizes the import."
The attaché also said there
is a ban on rice imports through
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to control. The attaché's forecast for
20

KEY FACTS
Capital: Abuja
Population: 203,452,505 (July 2018 est.)
Religions: Muslim 51.6%, Roman Catholic 11.2%,
other Christian 35.7%, traditionalist .9%, unspecified
.5% (2013 est.).
Location: Western Africa, bordering the Gulf of
Guinea, between Benin and Cameroon.
Government: Federal presidential republic. Chief of
state and head of government: President Maj. Gen.
(ret) Muhammadu Buhari (since May 29, 2015).
Economy: Nigeria is Sub-Saharan Africa's largest
economy and relies heavily on oil as its main source of
foreign exchange earnings and government revenues.
Following the 2008-09 global financial crises, the banking sector was effectively recapitalized and regulation
enhanced. Since then, Nigeria's economic growth has
been driven by growth in agriculture, telecommunications and services. Economic diversification and strong
growth have not translated into a significant decline in
poverty levels; over 62% of Nigeria's more than 180
million people still live in extreme poverty. Despite its
strong fundamentals, oil-rich Nigeria has been hobbled
by inadequate power supply, lack of infrastructure, delays in the passage of legislative reforms, an inefficient
property registration system, restrictive trade policies,
an inconsistent regulatory environment, a slow and
ineffective judicial system, unreliable dispute resolution mechanisms, insecurity, and pervasive corruption.
Regulatory constraints and security risks have limited
new investment in oil and natural gas, and Nigeria's
oil production had been contracting every year since
2012 until a slight rebound in 2017. President Buhari,
elected in March 2015, has established a cabinet of
economic ministers that includes several technocrats,
and he has announced plans to increase transparency,
diversify the economy away from oil, and improve fiscal
management, but has taken a primarily protectionist
approach that favors domestic producers at the expense of consumers. President Buhari ran on an anticorruption platform, and has made some headway in
alleviating corruption, such as implementation of a
Treasury Single Account that allows the government
to better manage its resources and a more transparent government payroll and personnel system that
eliminated duplicate and "ghost workers." The government also is working to develop stronger public-private
partnerships for roads, agriculture and power. Nigeria
entered recession in 2016 as a result of lower oil prices
and production, exacerbated by militant attacks on oil
and gas infrastructure in the Niger Delta region, coupled with detrimental economic policies, including foreign exchange restrictions. GDP growth turned positive
in 2017 as oil prices recovered and output stabilized.
GDP per capita: $5,900 (2017 est.); inflation: 16.5%
(2017 est.); unemployment: 16.5% (2017 est.).
Currency: nairas (NGN): 362 nairas equal 1 U.S. dollar (Jan. 22, 2019).
Exports: $1.146 billion (2017 est.): petroleum and
petroleum products 95%, cocoa, rubber (2012 est.).
Imports: $32.67 billion (2017 est.): machinery,
chemicals, transport equipment, manufactured goods,
food and live animals.
Agriculture: 21.1% (2016 est.) of GDP and 70% of
the labor force.
Source: CIA Factbook

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