In recent decades Nigeria has made great strides, managing to capitalise on the country’s natural oil wealth to propel economic growth while working to establish a greater sense of social and political stability. Consisting of 36 autonomous states, Nigeria is a culturally diverse federation that boasts one of the highest youth populations in the world. Historically, Nigeria’s political landscape has been characterised by fierce conflict amongst the country’s numerous ethnic groups, public sector corruption and weak regulatory institutions. However, recent years have seen positive developments on the political front. The current government, headed by Muhammadu Buhari, has prioritised initiatives related to economic diversification, fighting corruption, reducing unemployment and enhanc- ing the living standards of Nigerians.
The country’s economy benefits from a well-developed transport network consisting of interconnected rail lines, over 197,000 kilometres (km) of urban roads, five international airports, and six seaports. Nigeria’s energy genera- tion capacity is also strong, with 12,000 megawatts (MW) of installed capacity and 55% electrification in urban areas, benefitting logistics activities. The country ranked 130th out of 141 economies on the World Economic Forum’s 2019 Global Competitiveness Report in terms of transport infrastructure. Nigeria ranked below regional neighbours such as Kenya (110th) and Ethiopia (123rd), despite having an average annual GDP over three times larger, signal- ling a need for development within the sector.