NIGERIA NAMED AMONG THE FASTEST-GROWING ECONOMIES GLOBALLY

Two highly reputable and well regarded Global Investment Banks which are market leaders in providing institutional research for investors and whose recommendations are always given very high consideration, namely, Reissuance Capital and Citigroup, have rated Nigeria among the fastest-growing economies globally. The highlights of their reports on Nigeria are that:

(i) Nigeria has a large market with deepening pockets: Nigeria is a market that is too large to be ignored and it also has one of the highest real income per capita growth rates in sub-saharan Africa;

(ii) Nigeria's GDP growth was estimated at 7.9% in 2010, making it one of the fastest-growing economies in sub-saharan Africa and it is expected to continue outperforming other African OPEC member-states over the next five years;

(iii) Nigeria has a robust fiscal position with a small deficit and low levels of government debtcompared to BRIC and sub-saharan Africa economies;

(iv) Nigeria has pulled ahead of South Africa and Sudan, garnering the third largest Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflows into Africa and the second largest in sub-saharan Africa;

(v) As a result of over a decade of civilian rule, Nigeria has made significant political strides which is indicative of a maturing political structure and, finally,

(vi) Nigeria has the potential to be the fastest growing economy in the world over the next forty years, with an average growth rate of 8.5%, higher than India at 8.0%. This could be a significant contributor to global GDP growth, increasing Nigeria's share of global GDP from 0.5% today to 2.5% by 2050, overtaking Italy, France and the United Kingdom in the process.

These are some of the reasons why Nigeria has become an ideal destination for investments.