Despite being a single product exporter country, Nigeria is still ranked 107th most complex economy in the world.

The most completed Nigeria’s import and export data available is that of 2015 and it shows a terrifying fact.

If Nigeria had no crude oil, it will be one of the poorest countries on earth.

Despite being a single product exporter country, Nigeria is still ranked 107th most complex economy in the world.

This suggests that in real term, the actual data on economic activities may be difficult to quantify, but available data show that the only thing Nigeria offers the world is Crude Oil and at the same time serves as a dumping ground for other great exporting countries like China and the USA.

Being the most populous black nation and the 7th most populous nation on earth, Nigeria’s greatest asset is its human capital but the failure of successive governments have seen this untapped.

Nigeria, like many other African countries, are developing huge celebrity culture and entertainment is rapidly becoming popular, creating wealth in that sector. The Tech industry is also coming along, but these two sectors put together are still a tiny drop in the ocean of what is needed to sustain a nation.

Note that Telecoms and film industries are among the sectors that boosted Nigeria’s GDP during the rebasing of the economic data in 2013

China recognised its asset in human capital and used it to its maximum advantage, today, no country has a positive trade balance against China.

The gradual move of the western economies to green energy and volatilities in the crude oil as witnessed in the recent price crash suggests that Nigeria faces an existential crisis.

Nigeria economy 2015 data

Export: $47.8b

Import: $39.5b

Positive trade balance: $8.26b

Top export product:

Crude petroleum: $36.9b

Petroleum Gas: $7.39b

Refined Petroleum: $603m

Cocoa Beans: $504m

Rough Wood: $333m

Nigeria’s Top export destination

India: $9.1b

Spain: $4.63b

South Africa: $4.58b

Brazil: $4.14b

Netherland: $3.37b

Nigeria’s Top Import Origin

China: $13.6b

USA: $3.24b

Netherland: $3.22b

India: $2.28b

Belgium-Luxemburg: $1.98b