Nigeria has wafted along a wave of optimism for the past five years. The economy of the oil-rich west African country, by far the continent’s most populous, has been growing at roughly 7% annually in that period, making it one of the fastest expanding in the world.
Investors have rushed in to buy its bonds, shares and property. Their optimism is likely to be heightened further once the government completes a long-awaited recalculation of gross domestic product (GDP), the results of which were set to be released on March 31, after The Banker went to press. With the rebasing, Nigeria could overtake South Africa to become the largest economy in Africa.
