Nigeria’s banks outpace political change

Banks are booming in Nigeria on the back of oil revenue inflows. But solutions to some of the country’s problems – particularly the need for infrastructure development and a reversal of falls in oil production – remain stymied by an inflexible political system. Rupert Wright reports.

Moved to London

DISTURBANCES IN THE oil-producing areas of the Delta, concerns about electricity supply and the country’s failed infrastructure, combined with sweeping new measures planned by the country’s central bank: it is tempting to think that despite another year of democratic rule in Nigeria, and economic growth fuelled by buoyant oil prices, nothing has changed at all. It is as if the country is starring in its own version of the film Groundhog Day, in which events keep repeating themselves and the same things keep happening to all the main participants.

This view, while seductive, would be misguided.

Access this research

Enter your work email address to sign in or check whether your organisation already has access to Euromoney.