Nigeria heads for economy top 20

25 July 2014 - 02:12 By Bloomberg
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Nigeria has the potential to be one of the world's top 20 economies by 2030, according to business advisers McKinsey & Co.

Africa's biggest economy may expand about 7.1% a year through to 2030, boosting gross domestic product to $1.6-trillion, possibly pushing it above Holland, Thailand and Malaysia, the company said in a report yesterday.

About 60% of Nigeria's estimated population of 273 million by then may live in households earning more than $7 500 a year, fuelling a boom, McKinsey said.

"Nigeria has a very positive outlook," Acha Leke, co-author of the report, said in an interview with Bloomberg TV. She said "the most important thing that needs to be done to get it there is execution of government policies."

As Africa's largest oil producer, Nigeria has consistently posted annual growth rates in excess of 4% over the past decade. That has spurred foreign investors such as Unilever, Nestle and Shoprite to expand operations, despite an upsurge in violence by Islamic militants in the north.

Based on McKinsey's growth estimates, annual sales in consumer goods could more than triple to $1.4-trillion by 2030 from $388-billion currently, it said.

Nigeria's GDP overtook that of South Africa earlier this year as it updated the way the size of the economy is measured.

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