Nigeria’s GDP per capita plummets to $824, says Akinwumi Adesina
President of the African Development Bank (AfDB), Dr Akinwumi Adesina on Thursday, said Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita plummets to $824
Speaking at the 20th anniversary dinner of investment firm Chapel Hill Denham in Lagos, Adesina, who gave a keynote address, remarked on a note of warning that Nigeria is facing a deeper economic regression than many realise.
According to him, with a current GDP per capita of just $824, Nigerians are significantly worse off than they were at independence in 1960.
Thus, he stressed the need for Nigeria to radically transform its economic model to become a globally competitive and industrialised nation by 2050.
Going further, the AfDB President stated that despite Nigeria being Africa’s largest economy in terms of GDP, the nation’s economic structure remains deeply flawed and unsustainable.
Still according to Adesina, the present situation the country is in is as a result of decades of policy missteps, institutional weaknesses, over-reliance on crude oil exports, and chronic underinvestment in key sectors.
For emphasis, the AfDB President contrasted Nigeria’s trajectory with that of South Korea, which had a lower GDP per capita than Nigeria in 1960.
However, that story has long since changed as South Korea has grown into a global industrial leader, now boasting a per capita income of over $36,000.
Still on a note of warning, Adesina noted that Nigeria’s continued lag in development is not due to a lack of potential, but a failure to harness it.
It was thus in this light that the AfDB President laid out five urgent priorities to reposition Nigeria’s economy.
Universal access to electricity, development of world-class infrastructure, rapid industrialisation, innovation-driven growth, and competitive agriculture were the identified points by Adesina.
He warned that without a credible reform agenda, Nigeria will continue to miss out on global opportunities and fail its growing population.
