Nigeria - Country Strategy Paper 2020-2024

This report presents the Bank Group’s Country Strategy Paper (CSP) for Nigeria for the period 2020-2024. The report has been developed in the context of Nigeria’s new middle-income country (MIC) status amidst lingering challenges of security and fragility, slow growth, infrastructure deficit and low level of human capital development notably widespread poverty, high inequality and rising youth unemployment. The preparation of the report also coincides with the adoption of ‘ECO’ as the name of the regional currency by Heads of State and Government of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), and the entry into force of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) both in 2019, designed to boost regional and continental trade. However, the COVID-19 global pandemic has resulted in drastic reduction in the international price of crude oil (Nigeria’s main foreign exchange earner) and global lockdown thus stoking the fear of global recession. The CSP is underpinned by Nigeria’s Vision 20:2020 and the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) 2017-2020 adopted by the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) in 2017 in response to the economic recession. The FGN has indicated that a successor plan based on the underlying strategic thrust of the ERGP with robust implementation framework will be prepared before the expiration of the ERGP and launched in early 2021. Meanwhile, following the mid-term review of the ERGP, the government has encapsulated eleven priorities.