EDITORIAL: Nigeria’s desperate strong-arm tactics
It appears that Nigerian domestic politicking could be behind the Nigerian raids on MTN and Standard Bank
Nigeria is spoken of as an economic equal to SA on the continent, at least measured by gross domestic product. But big-picture stats like GDP can be misleading. Nigeria has been battling ever since 2015, when the oil price crashed from more than $100 a barrel to below $40 a barrel, eventually settling at about $50 a barrel. Hard as it is to believe of a country with a population more than double SA’s, Nigeria is largely a single-commodity economy — relying on oil for more than 80% of its exports. It is a country of contradictions too. Despite being blessed with immense economic potential, much of Nigeria’s creaking infrastructure dates back to colonial times and its economic hub, Lagos, is one vast, unending traffic jam. It can take six to seven hours to travel the few kilometres from the international airport to the city. In 2016 Nigeria was the biggest exporter of oil in Africa and the 13th largest in the world. Absurdly, due to a lack of refinery capacity, it imports more than 90...
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