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Power passes back from the barracks
 Nearly 40 years after it won independence from Britain, Nigeria is attempting to make a fresh start against formidable odds. The economy is in deep trouble, and the federal constitution is under strain; the army is embroiled in a civil war abroad, while at home it is grappling with rebellious communities in the vital oil-producing Niger delta region. ...more
DEBT:
Caught in a two-way squeeze
With the steep fall in the oil price and the prospect of weak prices over the next few years, Nigeria's foreign debt crisis has assumed new, more serious, dimensions. The country is now caught in a classic two-way squeeze of tumbling oil receipts and escalating debt arrears. ...more
TRANSITION:
Long, long road to recovery
The odds are heavily stacked against a successful economic transition. The combination of the slump in oil prices, disruption of production in the Delta region, foreign debt, a ramshackle infrastructure and weak institutional capacity has debilitated the economy. ...more
BANKING:
Refined for the challenge ahead
With the number of banks down 40 per cent from the 120 reached in the mid-1990s, bankers believe that the worst of the country's financial services crisis is over. Even so, more banks will go to the wall later this year following the Central Bank of Nigeria's announcement. ...more
OIL:
End in sight for the winner-takes-all era
Last year's collapse in oil prices has made a big dent in the level of investment in Nigeria's oil industry, which was also beset by widespread disruption of onshore production by minority rights activists and militant youths in the Niger Delta demanding a greater share of the oil wealth. ...more
PRIVATISATION:
Stalled programme is back on track
Nigeria's long-stalled privatisation programme is back on the road - this time with widespread public support. Decades of frustration and discomfort at the hands of state-owned utilities have convinced Nigerians that private owners, even foreigners, would do a better job. ...more
COCOA:
Tragedy of a sector in decline
The tragedy of Nigeria's cocoa sector is that a former bedrock of the country's economy has become little more than a foreign exchange game and money-laundering operation. Nigerian cocoa has declined since its high point in the 1970s, when the it produced over 20 per cent of the world production. ...more
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