BRAZIL "is the country of the future and always will be". Attributed to Stefan Zweig, an Austrian novelist who emigrated to Brazil in 1941, this quote could be adapted to Nigeria, which recently hosted the World Economic Forum’s (WEF’s) Africa Summit in Abuja.The accolade was the crowning glory of a year in which Nigeria’s rebased gross domestic product catapulted it past SA to number one in Africa by far, notwithstanding Boko Haram’s depredations.Opportunities abound in Nigeria’s rapidly expanding market. The government is set on building core infrastructure, particularly energy, railroads, and roads. Modernisation programmes are being implemented in fields as diverse as agriculture and customs. The population, while still poor, is expanding rapidly, along with urbanisation.Consequently, consumer-facing industries such as retail are attracting substantial attention and investment.Accordingly, many senior business people I spoke to there regard the Nigerian growth story as one they ...
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