This summary was prepared by Whitehouse & Associates for the African Resource Network.
Nigeria is still regarded by many as the sleeping giant of Africa. With one in six Africans being a Nigerian, and half of West Africa’s population being Nigerian, it is one of the few markets in Africa that has sufficient mass to accommodate a large and diversified industrial base. Combined with Nigeria’s huge oil wealth and potential for development in many other industrial areas – particularly downstream from oil production – Nigeria is poised to develop at a great pace over the next decade.
Despite the problems of doing business with Nigeria, not least of which is corruption, the market is just too large to ignore. South African’s tend to be scared of Nigeria because of its reputation and horror stories of “419” scams, but these need to be seen in perspective. There is a well developed and functioning industrial and business sector in Nigeria involved in regular business practice. The trick is to identify these businesses.
