[Nigeria Business Week] Andrea Ayemoba: Economic conditions returning to pre-pandemic levels
The startup movement has picked up pace in Nigeria over the last decade, with the government and responsible agencies ramping up efforts in motivating the burgeoning industry. SMEs and startups have become more and more reliant on technology to leverage their operations and experts are urging small businesses to lean on technology for success. The calls for 5G have also gotten louder on a national level and telecom giant MTN has paid the relevant license fee before the deadline issued by the government.
The Investment Commission has declared Lagos the leader in investments in Nigeria for the year 2021, and showed an increase in the volume of investments as compared to the previous year. According to the IMF, unemployment has returned to pre-pandemic levels, which indicates that though there’s no improvement, there’s no definite worsening in the unemployment status-quo. The AfDB President has proffered an amount that is needed for Nigeria and other African countries to recover from economic hardships, and when this is needed.
Other industries are making efforts to unify their opportunities for development. The energy industry is about to receive a infusion of funds, as Nigeria is set to borrow a substantial amount from Japan for a power expansion initiative.
The insurance sector raked up a over half a billion naira in premiums last year and the travel industry showed a large number of Nigerians traveled all over the world in 2021, despite pandemic restrictions. Dana Air is set to recruit more pilots to its organization, but is simultaneously undergoing a discrimination lawsuit from the Disability Rights Protection Initiative.
The Oil ad Gas sector received earnings in the last year worth trillions of naira, according to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation.
Earnings on a personal level are also seen in the list of billionaires that emerged in Nigeria as of January this year, totaling a combined fortune worth billions of naira.
Andrea Ayemoba is a Senior Editor at Africa Business Communities.
