Food inflation in Nigeria increased by 15% during the 11 months from April 2021 to March 2022, adding pressure on the cost of living for salary earners whose incomes have not risen for close to three years. The alarming situation is that the 30,000 Naira (US$72) minimum wage is insufficient to meet the value of […]
A gloomy May Day awaits Nigerian workers
Imagine you live alone and walk into a local food market in Lagos, the Nigerian commercial capital, to buy a week’s worth of basic food items. In less than 15 minutes, you would find that you’ve spent at least 10,000 Naira (or US$24 at the official exchange rate of US$1 = 416 Naira). This may […]
Why import restrictions aren’t enough to help Nigeria industrialise
Nigeria has a strong ambition to industrialise. It has relied heavily on the restriction of imports of certain goods targeted for domestic production. But for Nigeria’s industrialisation drive to succeed, it needs a broader array of industrial policy tools than simply import restrictions. These tools should include addressing binding constraints in different sectors to raise […]
Canada needs to stop wasting the talent of skilled immigrants
Neoliberal democracies across the world have looked up to Canada as a leader in economically driven immigration. The merit-based immigration system was used to fill labour market shortages and has been a go-to solution to the country’s aging population and recently, the post-pandemic economic recovery. We recently undertook a Photovoice project, Take a Walk in […]
dividing and excluding people keeps them poor
Sub-Saharan African countries are the most ethnically diverse in the world. Within each African country there are more ethnic groups than there are in most of the world’s countries. In fact, the world’s 20 most ethnically diverse countries are all African. An ethnic group is a social group that shares a common and distinctive history, […]
South Africa’s economy has taken some heavy body blows: can it recover?
Economists are growing increasingly concerned about South Africa’s economy. This is because the country’s three major macroeconomic problems – lacklustre economic growth, growing inflation and very high unemployment – have been exacerbated by a series of major disruptions. These include the COVID pandemic that started as a health crisis but escalated quickly to an economic […]
remanufacturing could be the solution
Nigeria has pumped more than US$8 billion into Ajaokuta Steel Company, a project which began more than 40 years ago but has yet to produce one tonne of steel. Several attempts have been made to bring the plant into production, but without success. It was built to 98% capacity by the Soviet Union’s Tyazpromoexport. But […]
Can the South Asian economy break from the past and find a route to stability?
Sri Lanka has a new president and prime minister – but a change in who leads the crisis-hit South Asian nation alone will not solve the country’s severe economic problems. Ranil Wickremesinghe – who on July 20, 2022, was voted in by lawmakers to replace fleeing former president Gotabaya Rajapaksa – and his appointed premier […]
Why China’s real estate crisis should make the global travel industry nervous
Once upon a time – in 2019 – tourists from China were among the best-traveled in the world. They collectively spent more than US$250 billion abroad – nearly twice as much as their nearest competitors, the Americans – and logged more than 150 million departures on international flights that year. The COVID-19 pandemic shook the […]
Foreign banks are absent in Nigeria. We tracked down why
Privately owned Nigerian banks hold 94% of Nigerian banking assets. Only one other country in the world – Israel – has a higher share of ownership by local banks. The share of banking assets is the most reliable way to measure market power and competitive position. Some of the world’s largest banks are active in […]