Nigeria Flashcards
The location and importance of the country, regionally and globally
Nigeria is considered as the ‘Giant of Africa’. It has a huge population and in 2015 took over from South Africa as the country with the largest economy.
It is one of the MINT economies – important globally for exporting goods.
It is in the top 20 economies in the world.
Social context
Nigeria was originally made of many tribal communities until the British took over
Cultural context
There are 500 ethnic groups each with its own language but three major ethnicities. The North of Nigeria is mainly Muslim, the South is mainly Christian
Environmental context
It is just north of the Equator. The south of Nigeria is humid and has tropical rainforest and in the north is hot and dry savannah
Political context
Nigeria gained independence in 1960. Although it had a civil war it now has a working democracy. However there is still conflict with Boko Haram, at least 17,000 people have been killed in this conflict since 2002
The balance between different sectors of the economy
Nigeria’s economy is made up of: services 52%, oil and gas 14%, manufacturing 7% and agriculture 22%.
The majority of people (30%) in Nigeria work in agriculture. 25% work in retail and maintenance.
Finding and exploiting oil kick-started the Nigerian economy. This gave money which funded factories to be built and started turning Nigeria from an LIC into a HIC. New industry like this creates jobs, creates wealth through taxes and improves the wealth of the country.
The role of transnational corporations (TNCs) in relation to industrial development
TNCs like Shell and Exxon-mobil have the money and expertise to drill for oil. The TNCs made deals with the Nigerian government who didn’t have this money or expertise to export this oil.
Advantages of TNCs
Increases the wealth of the country.
TNCs often improve infrastructure of the country
New skills and expertise are brought in
Disadvantages of TNCs
Oil creates environmental damage. Oil spills kill wildlife and damage ecosystems
TNCs are footloose meaning they can leave lots of people suddenly without a job.
Profits are taken aboard – economic leakage
changing political and trading relationships
Nigeria and the UK
Oil is transported to the UK. Manufactured goods are traded with the UK
Nigeria and China
China is investing hugely in Nigeria. It is drilling a new oil field in Nigeria and investing in transport. It knows that it will make its money back when Nigeria becomes richer.
International aid: types of aid, impacts of aid on the receiving country
Official development assistance
Multilateral aid – money given by the world bank Bilateral aid – given by one country to another (often with conditions like a promise to buy goods from the donor country with the aid money). A bit like Tesco giving you a voucher to spend at Tesco. assistance
Voluntary aid – NGOs like Oxfam
Short-term emergency relief – aid like after an earthquake
Long-term development assistance – such as education or appropriate technology to help their farmland.
The environmental impacts of economic development
Oil pollution has polluted the sea and delta of Nigeria near Lagos.
Deforestation has occurred in the rainforest
Lagos has got high air pollution and breathing conditions are poor
Industry along the river has caused chemicals to leak into the water.
The effects of economic development on quality of life for the population.
There are large inequalities in Nigeria. Even though the country is booming economically not all of this money is going where it needs to.
Better jobs = better pay = more taxes and better living standards
Many Nigerians are not happy by their low wages and end up travelling to North Africa to
travel across the Mediterranean Sea to try and get to Europe so people can seek a better life.
