Nigeria’s growth rate cannot sustain $1 trillion economy – World Bank

The World Bank has cautioned that Nigeria’s current economic growth rate may be too slow to meet the federal government’s ambitious target of transforming the country into a $1 trillion economy by 2030.

This was disclosed in its latest Nigeria Development Update (NDU) report titled “Building Momentum for Inclusive Growth”, released on Monday.

According to the Bretton Woods institution, achieving this economic milestone will require a significant ramp-up in the country’s growth trajectory, by as much as fivefold.
“The pace of growth in Nigeria needs to accelerate further to meet its aspirations and deliver poverty reduction and shared prosperity.

The economy would need to grow at a rate about five times higher than recently to achieve a US$1 trillion economy by 2030, the government’s aspiration,” the World Bank stated.

The report acknowledged that President Bola Tinubu’s administration has made bold moves in implementing reforms such as fuel subsidy removal and exchange rate unification, but it warned that without accelerating structural transformation and improving governance, the potential gains from these reforms may not be fully realized.

Recall that during the Nigeria Economic Summit in 2023, President Tinubu stated that a $1 trillion economy is possible by the end of the decade in 2030.

Several analysts, including the Managing Director of Financial Derivative Company, Bismarck Rewane, have stated that President Tinubu’s $1 trillion economy target of the current administration will not be possible in the next five to six years.