By Efio-Ita Nyok, March 2, 2015, 7:15 am.
It has been predicted by world leading economists that the world economy will expand by 3.2% and 3.7% in 2015 and 2016 respectively.
However, in 2015, it is anticipated that emerging markets in the Asian and African continents will dominate the world market. In fact, 20 of such emerging world markets have been projected in view of 2015 including China, which is perceived to top the list, Philippines, Kenya, India, Singapore and Nigeria amongst others.
Bloomberg, a world leading finance services firm based in New York, in her more recent survey has ranked China, the Philippines, Kenya, India, Singapore and Nigeria as the world fastest economies for the year 2015. Nigeria’s economy is projected to expand by 4.9%, trailing behind China at 7%, the Philippines at 6.3%, Kenya at 6.3%, India at 5.5%, and Indonesia at 5.4%.
The implication is that Kenya will be Africa’s fastest growing economy, while Nigeria will be the continents second. However, Bloomberg observed that unemployment, weak infrastructure, corruption, poverty, security, etc are teething challenges to these two economies.
It would be recalled that in January 2015 CNN Money had projected Nigeria’s economy to be the third fastest economy globally in 2015 along with China, Qatar, Iraq, etc. It was posited that Nigeria’s economy would grow by 7.1% while China’s will grow at 7.3%.
To my mind, these economic statistics suggest very strongly that Nigeria, is making gigantic strides in the global scene. For instance in April 2014 Nigeria’s economy was review to be the largest economy in Africa with an estimated GDP of $509.9 billion (N80.3 trillion) leapfrogging South Africa’s $370.3bn (N60.7 trillion).
As it is common amongst a pessimistic citizenry, Nigerians are wont to dismiss this burgeoning statistics as mere paper work devoid of concrete expressions in the day-to-day existential realities of the average citizen. Accordingly, it should be emphasised that in the midst of institutionalised corruption and the present security challenges bedevilling this country, this perceptions would hardly change.
It was the Sophists who rightly argued that ‘man is the measure of all things’. Actually, the average Nigerian should be the measure of the veracity of these numerous claims. I do not mean to challenge the authenticity of these scientific claims, but from a perspective, they fly in the face of reality. Be that as it may, we believe very strongly that things will turn around this year as politicians will be seen to delivering on campaign promises to the electorates.
