Nigeria’s Economy May Suffer Slow Growth in 2023 – World bank

The World Bank, in its Africa Pulse Report April 2023 edition titled “Leveraging Resource Wealth During the Low Carbon Transition” said the Nigerian economy is set to grow by 2.8 per cent in 2023, down from 3.3 per cent in 2022, and economic growth is expected to accelerate slightly to an average annual rate of 3 per cent in 2024–25.

This, it said, translates into growth per capita of 0.2 per cent in 2023 and 0.4 per cent in 2024–25, which is insufficient to reduce extreme poverty in the country, and that growth would continue to be driven by agriculture, trade, among others.

On the production side, the report added that growth in 2023 will be supported by industry (with a growth of 5.6 per cent) with the mega-refinery project.

The report said, poses challenges to policymakers in the region who seek to accelerate the post-pandemic recovery, reduce poverty, and put the economy on a sustainable growth path.

The report added that, “Although headline inflation appears to have peaked in the past year, inflation is set to remain high and above central bank target bands for all countries with an explicit nominal anchor in 2023.

“Inflation rates remain high and above targets despite the early and sizable interest rate hikes undertaken by African central banks. For instance, the monetary authorities in Ghana, Mozambique, Nigeria, South Africa, and Uganda, among others, raised their monetary policy rates swiftly to record highs over the past two years.”

Agro Nigeria / F.I