Business in Nigeria, Lagos

The objectives of the subject “Foreign Trade and Business in the Federal Republic of Nigeria” are the following:

1. To analyse the Nigerian Economy and Foreign Trade (Import, Export, FDI)
2. To know the business opportunities in Nigeria
3. To explore the Nigerian trade relations with the country of the student
4. To know the Nigerian Free Trade Agreements
5. To examine the profile of the Nigerian Businessman
6. To develop a business plan for the Nigerian Market

Nigerian Preferential Access and Free Trade Agreements

1. Nigeria and the West African Economic Area
2. Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS)
3. West African Monetary Zone (WAMZ)
4. Community of Sahel-Saharan States (CEN-SAD)
5. African Continental Free-Trade Area (AfCFTA)
6. Nigeria is a beneficiary of the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) - US
7. Africa-European Union Strategic Partnership (Cotonou Agreement)
8. Islamic Trade Preferential System (TPS-OIC)
9. Islamic Centre for Development of Trade (ICDT)
10. Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with India
11. Niger Basin Authority
12. Global System of Trade Preferences among Developing Countries (GSTP)

Trade Facilitation Programs

1. World Trade Organisation (WTO)
   1. WTO General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS)
   2. WTO Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS)
   3. WTO Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT)
   4. WTO Agreement on Preshipment Inspection (PSI)
   5. WTO Agreement on Safeguards (SG)
   6. WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA)
2. World Customs Organisation (WCO)
   1. Revised Kyoto Convention (RKC)
3. Convention on the Carriage of Goods by Sea (Hamburg Rules, UN)
4. Convention on Contracts for the International Carriage of Goods Wholly or Partly by Sea (Rotterdam Rules, UN)
5. ECOWAS Regional Road Transport and Transit Facilitation Programme
6. International Bureau of Containers and Intermodal Transport (BIC)
7. International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO, Chicago Convention)
8. International Maritime Organisation (IMO)
   1. International Convention for Safe Containers (CSC)
   2. Convention Relating to Temporary Admission (Istanbul Convention)
9. Customs Convention on Containers (CCC, UN) - not a member
10. Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM / IATA)

African Trade and Economic Organisations

1. Economic Commission for Africa (ECA)
2. African Union (AU)
   1. African Union Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption
   2. African Union Development Agency (AUDA-NEPAD)
   3. Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP)
3. African Development Bank (AfDB)
4. Africa-Turkey Partnership
5. Africa-Korea Partnership
6. Africa-Japan Cooperation (TICAD)
7. Africa-South America Summit (ASA)
8. Forum on China-Africa Cooperation
9. Africa-Asia Strategic Partnership (NAASP)
10. Africa-India Framework for Cooperation
11. Africa-BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa)

Islamic Organisations

1. Afro-Arab Cooperation
2. Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA)
3. Islamic Development Bank (IsDB)
4. Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC)
   1. Standing Committee for Economic and Commercial Cooperation of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (COMCEC)
   2. Islamic Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI)
   3. Islamic Centre for Development of Trade (ICDT)
   4. Statistical, Economic and Social Research and Training Centre for Islamic Countries (SESRIC)

Global Organisations

1. Commonwealth
2. United Nations (UN)
   1. Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)
   2. International Trade Centre (INTRACEN)
   3. Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL)
   4. World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO)
3. World Bank (WB)
4. World Trade Organisation (WTO)
5. International Monetary Fund (IMF)

Federal Republic of Nigeria

Nigeria is the most populous African Country (eleventh in the World), with a population of 176 million Nigerians (annual growth: 2.3%).

1. Nigerian population: 190 million inhabitants
2. 40% of the population are Hausa, Ibo, and Yoruba, the three major ethnic groups in Nigeria
   1. Fula
3. Borders of the Federal Republic of Nigeria: Benin, Chad, Cameroon, and Niger
4. The capital of Nigeria is Abuja
5. The largest Nigerian city is Lagos
6. The largest Nigerian cities are Abuja, Lagos, Kano, Ibadan, Kaduna, Maiduguri, and Port Harcourt
7. The total Nigerian area: 923,768 square kilometres
8. Independence of Nigeria: October 1960 from the United Kingdom
9. The currency of Nigeria is the Naira
10. English is the Nigerian official language
11. The main Nigerian languages are Hausa, Yoruba and Igbo (Ibo), and Fulani

More information about Nigeria (EENI African Portal).

Religions in Nigeria:

1. Islam (50% of the Nigerian population, 64 million)
2. Christianity:
   1. Catholicism (3 million)
   2. Protestants (34 million, 26% of the Nigerian population)
      1. Methodists: 3 million
      2. Baptists: 2.5 million
3. African Traditional Religions

Approximately between 64 and 88 million of Nigerians are Sunni Muslims, representing roughly the half of the Nigerian population. The most followed school of law is Maliki, about 12% of Muslims are Shiites. The rest of the population is Christian and/or followers of the African Traditional Religions. As a general rule; we could say that the northern Nigeria tends to be Muslim, while the south is Christian.

In Nigeria, the Sharia has been established as the main body of civil and criminal law in nine Nigerian states with a Muslim-majority.

Nigeria belongs to the West African Economic Area (African Civilisation).

Nigerian Economy

1. Nigeria is the largest African economy (GDP: 522 billion dollars), followed by South Africa
2. Nigeria is the first frontier market in the World
3. Nigeria is the dominant economy in West Africa, with more than 76.5 percent of the population and 85.6 percent of the GDP of the region
4. The Federal Republic of Nigeria is a petroleum-based economy, a sector that contributes to 20 percent of the GDP, 80 percent of the total revenues and 90 percent of the foreign exchange earnings
5. Petroleum revenues constitute 60% of the GDP and 90% of the Nigerian exports
6. The Federal Republic of Nigeria is rich in natural resources (huge petrol and gas deposits, bitumen)
7. Nigeria has had the unpleasant experience of political unsteadiness, corruption, and poor Macroeconomics management
8. Basic socio-economic infrastructure is also unsuitable
9. Nigeria is a leading petroleum manufacturer and exporter
10. Nigeria is the thirteenth largest petroleum producer in the World and the eighth largest petroleum exporter
11. Nigeria has one of the largest proven natural gas and petroleum reserves in the World
12. The Nigerian Government is implementing a strategic shift of the economy from the excessive dependence on capital-intensive petrol sector (20% of the gross domestic product, 95% of the foreign exchange earnings and 65% of the Nigerian budget)
13. Nigeria has a vast local market
14. Nigeria is the most populous nation in Africa. Nigeria is the tenth largest country in the world by population
15. Significant changes are taken to reform the foreign direct investment environment and business facilitation in the Federal Republic of Nigeria
16. Nigeria has strong informal trade with Benin through the Port of Cotonou
17. Nigeria is vital for the European Union (EU). The Nigerian exports to the European Union are mainly agricultural products and petroleum

However, do business in Nigeria is complex, and it is necessary to know how to negotiate in this country. Furthermore, the famous fraud “419,” now called Advance Fee Fraud has made the image of Nigeria abroad very negative

The Federal Republic of Nigeria has preferential market access to several Sub-Saharan Africa regional trade blocs.