Nigeria Case Study

• Nigeria


  • World's 21st largest economy
  • Supplies 2.7% of the world's oil (the 12th biggest producer)
  • Economic hub for finance, telecommunications and the media
  • 5th largest contributor to the UN peacekeeping missions around the world
  • Has the highest GDP in Africa
  • Has the third largest manufacturing sector in Africa
• Nigeria's relationships with the wider world

  • African Union (provides troops and allows economic planning and peacekeeping in Africa)
  • United Nations (5th largest number of peacekeeping troops come from Nigeria)
  • Trades with mainly China, India and the USA
• Political context


  • Nigeria became independent from the UK in 1960
  • Relatively stable, but there is still conflict with Boko Haram, an extremist organisation that wants to abolish democracy and set up its own government
  • Boko Haram has risen due to the growing gap between rich cities and poor rural areas
• Environmental context


  • The further north of the equator, the climate becomes drier and the biome is a savanna grassland
  • The south of Nigeria has tropical rainforests
• Social context


  • Mix of religions
  • Average life expectancy is 52
  • Infant mortality rate is 73 babies per 1000
• Cultural context


  • Nigerian music is enjoyed across the continent
  • Nigerian cinema, also known as Nollywood, is the second largest film industry in the world
  • Well known writers e.g. Chinua Achebe
• Nigeria's industrial structure and economy

  Was based on agriculture but the economy is now manufacturing and services
• How Nigeria's manufacturing industry can shape the economy and stimulate economic development

  1. Regular paid work gives people more secure income and provides an even larger home market for purchasing products

  2. Manufacturing industries stimulate economic growth through close links with each other

  3. As industry grows, more people are employed and the country earns more through people paying tax

  4. The industrial sector attracts foreign investment which stimulates further economic growth

  5. Oil processing creates chemical by products leading to a range of chemical industries
• The expansion of Nigerian companies

  Increases Nigeria's influence on the continent
• Environmental impacts of economic development in Nigeria

  • Industrial growth (chemical waste disposal, pollution of groundwater)
  • Urban growth (waste disposal issues, traffic congestion, high exhaust emissions)
  • Farming (land degradation, water pollution, desertification)
  • Mining (soil erosion, water pollution)
  • Oil extraction (oil spills, acid rain, violent conflicts)
  • Deforestation (habitat destruction, increased CO2 emissions)
• Shell in Nigeria


  • 250,000 employed as a result of oil extraction, with 65,000 directly employed by Shell
  • 91% of all contracts are with Nigeria, meaning money stays in the country
  • NNPC established, meaning profits stay in Nigeria
  • Government benefits from export taxes, providing money for education, healthcare and services
  • Can invest in big projects like dams
  • Products are cheaper for people in MEDCs
  • Can improve local infrastructure like roads and airports
  • Money paid to workers in LEDCs goes into the local economy (multiplier effect)
• Disadvantages of Shell in Nigeria

  • Tankers transport oil to Europe and the USA where it is refined, meaning profits go abroad
  • Shell pays low wages
  • Boko Haram steal 400,000 barrels a day
  • 75% of people in the delta have no access to safe drinking water
  • Oil spills damage agriculture and water supplies
  • Oil flares and toxic fumes increase air pollution
  • Few managers are local people
  • Locals are paid low wages
  • Poor working conditions and long hours
  • Most profits go abroad (leakage)
  • TNCs might pull out with little warning
• Positives of aid in Nigeria

  • World Bank approved $500 million to fund developmental projects and provide long-term loans
  • Aid from the USA helps to educate and protect people against HIV and AIDS
  • NGO "Nets for Life" provides education on malaria prevention and distributes mosquito nets
• Negatives of aid in Nigeria

  • Government may divert money away for other purposes
  • Corruption can mean aid does not get to Nigeria
  • Donors may have an influence over where the aid goes and money may be used in the interests of the donor
• Effects of economic development in Nigeria for the quality of life

  • Reliable, better-paid jobs in manufacturing or services
  • Higher disposable income to spend on things like school
  • Better access to safe water and sanitation
  • Improvements to infrastructure
  • Reliable electricity supplies
  • Better quality healthcare and better-equipped hospitals
  • Nigeria rated as having the highest average HDI improvement in the world by 2011
  • Not all people have benefitted and many are still poor
  • Unequal access to safe water, sanitation and electricity
  • Parts of the North are at risk of desertification and crop failure
  • Boko Haram kidnapping people has put off investment in certain areas
  • Large difference between educated and uneducated people
  • 9000 migrants crossed to Europe in 2014 to escape poverty and earn enough money to send back to their families
• Nigeria


  West African country that has experienced recent development to become an emerging country
• Nigeria has the highest GDP for Africa, and has the 27th largest economy in the world (larger than Norway, Greece and the UAE)
• Nigeria has a large supply of oil, which they sell to the world
• Nigeria has the 7th largest population in the world, with 200 million Nigerians calling it home. This is three times bigger than the size of the UK's population
• Nigeria's culture


  • Socially diverse, with many ethnic groups and religions
  • This is because Nigeria had many tribes in the past, as well as being ruled by Britain during the British Empire
• Nigeria's politics


  • Nigeria has contributed military assistance to many UN peacekeeping tours, especially protecting a ceasefire in Liberia
  • Nigeria has battled to stop its corrupt government. Much of the population has lost trust in the government, who accepts money bribes
• Life in Nigeria


  • Over 70% of the population are farmers, so Nigeria relies predominantly on agriculture & farming
  • Nigeria has a variety of landscapes, from hot desert to tropical rainforests. This means there are many different crops grown, as well as different living conditions
• Nigeria has the second largest film industry in the world (nicknamed Nollywood!)
• Nigeria's wealth has been increasing over the last century

  However, a recent recession (a dip in the economy) has resulted in unemployment and slow improvements in the lives of Nigerians
• Life expectancy in Nigeria

  54 years (the average for the world is 73 years, which is significantly higher than Nigeria's life expectancy)
• Literacy rates in Nigeria

  65.1% - This is very low, especially in girls, due to inequality in girls and boys' aspirations. Only one in three children stay in school
• Human Development Index rank of Nigeria

  158 out of 188 - Low life expectancy and large inequality in wealth has resulted in this low rank
• Nigeria's industry


  • Nigeria has a large agriculture industry, with many workers engaged in subsistence farming
  • Manufacturing is mainly in the form of processing oil that has been mined. Oil makes a large profit and can help Nigeria have political influence over other countries
• Transnational Corporations (TNCs) in Nigeria

  • The most influential TNCs in Nigeria are oil companies: Foreign companies (such as French company Total or the USA's Exxon-Mobil) that invest in Nigeria and buy rights to export oil from the country
  • Nigeria has its own TNC - Transcorp - which provides hospitality services across the globe, as well as energy
• Foreign oil TNCs can invest in new production & mining sites, which provide more jobs


  However, oil is very damaging to the environment. Oil spills can damage habitats and harm wildlife. The Niger river has regular oil spills, affecting wildlife and local residents' health. In addition, burning fossil fuels like oil contributes to Global Warming, which impacts Nigeria's environment directly (droughts & desertification in some places, increased flooding and extreme weather in other regions of Nigeria)
• NGO campaigns in Nigeria

  • Christian Aid: Protecting displaced Nigerians, supporting individuals with HIV, providing medical treatment to children
  • Action Aid: Encouraging girls to go to school, providing food parcels to families out of work due to COVID-19, pressuring TNCs to pay their taxes in Nigeria