According to a projection by PWC, Nigeria’s gross domestic product, GDP,will soar to $6.4 trillion by 2050, moving the country to the ninth position on the world ranking, surpassing Germany, United Kingdom, France, and Saudi Arabia.
The report released at the weekend also noted that Nigeria’s intrinsic potential lies beyond oil, adding that harnessing this potential has become an imperative given the expectations of lower oil prices and heightened competition in the oil market.
Based on recent trends, the report reviews the impact of low oil prices on key economic indicators and the real sector as well as addresses the question of priority sectors that should be targeted for diversification efforts.
The PwC report identified agriculture, petroleum, retail and ICT as priority sectors with the most dominant transmission links to the overall economy.
“Forward linkages to agro-processing and other services, such as logistics as well as backward integration to input supply sectors, could improve farm incomes, increase employment and improve domestic food security,” the report reads in part, stating that Nigeria’s global agriculture exports could take-off at a rate similar to Brazil’s, with $59 billion in export revenues by 2030. It noted further that value added to oil and gas output needs to urgently improve by implementing diversification within the sector.
“This implies investments across the downstream sector to develop petrochemicals, fertilizers, methanol and refining, industries relevant in both industrial and consumer products which Nigeria currently imports.
