Sharjah Chamber of Commerce & Industry analyze Nigeria as target destination for export and investment

Analysis of Nigeria
Name
Institution
Analysis of Nigeria
General Issues
The Republic of Nigeria is located in West Africa. It borders Benin to the west, Cameroon and Chad to the East, Niger to the North and the Gulf of Guinea to the South. Nigeria gained her independence from the United Kingdom in 1960 and in 1963 the country has declared a republic. The country’s capital, Abuja was developed in the 1980s. It was, however, declared the capital of Nigeria in 1991 replacing the previously known capital, Lagos. Notably, Nigeria’s government is a Presidential Federal Republic, and the official language is English. Additionally, the country is the most populous nation in Africa with a population of about 167 million people as per the 2011 census (Maps of World, 2016).The laws passed by the Nigerian government are accessible from a central website, the Nigeria Law Report website. The Constitution of Nigeria can also be obtained from the website. Moreover, the website contains all the judgments of the Supreme Court and the court of appeal (Nigeria Law Reports, 2016).
Naira is the official currency of Nigeria. It is subdivided into Kobo with a hundred Kobo making up one Naira. The current exchange rate of the Nigerian Naira against the United Arab Emirates Dirham (AED) is 85.833 Naira for one AED. Moreover, 317.15 Naira equals to 1 United States Dollar (USD).
Special issues
The national assembly of Nigeria is a bicameral legislature. It was an establishment of section four of the country’s constitution.

The Senate consists of one hundred and nine members, whereas the House of Representative has 360 members. The Senate’s head is known as the President of the Nigerian State. The house is led by the Speaker of the House of Representative. The Senate’s president chairs any joint session of the two houses. Moreover, the Senate Assembly conducts oversight functions and scrutinizes bills. The assembly also performs oversight roles on the government officials. When making amends to the constitution, both houses must pass a bill, which is then approved by the president to become law (Nigeria Law Reports, 2016). In extreme cases, the Assembly can overrule the executive when it deems fit.
Nigeria has a federal government whereby the head of state exercises the executive power. The president acts as both the head of National Government and Head of State. He/she is elected in a democratic process where a win is determined by gathering a majority vote. On becoming a president, each person is limited to two terms in office. The country also has state governments that are headed by governors who are also elected by a majority vote. The Central Government supports the state governments. It allocates funds to the state governments so that they can run their internal affairs efficiently.
The judiciary interprets the law and seeks to uphold it at all times. It consists of the Supreme Court, Court of Appeal, Magistrate Courts, High Court, and Sharia Courts. The legal system is a combination of statutory, common law of England, Islamic Sharia law, and customary law (Nigeria Law Reports, 2016). Local courts in Nigeria use Islamic and customary laws in their judgments. Statutory and common laws are applied in the Federal and state courts. Nevertheless, the Nigerian courts are highly corrupt. Judicial officers receive bribes to influence decisions to the favor of prominent and wealthy individuals.
Currently, all government branches are headquartered in the city of Abuja. Some of the prominent officials in Nigeria include President Muhammadu Buhari, Vice President Yemi Osimbajo, Bukora Saraki who is the president of Senate, Yakubu Dogara who is the Senate speaker, and Mahmud Mohammed who is the Chief Justice. Nigeria is a multi-party republic and thus has many political parties fronting candidates for public office. The major political parties in the country include All Progressive Congress (APC), Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and African People’s Alliance (APA).
The Stability of the Nigerian government is fragile. The first problem that destabilizes the government is the terrorist group Boko Haram. It is an Islamic group intent on making the country ungovernable by conducting well-orchestrated attacks on both the citizens and government officials. The presence of a Muslim majority in the north of the country and a Christian majority in the south also has a destabilizing effect. The Muslims yearn to have their independent state but the government, which is deemed as Christian, does not relent. The Muslims and the Christians antagonize reducing the stability of the country. Moreover, the country’s Over-reliance on petroleum revenues has had an adverse effect on the stability of the government. Lower prices of oil lead to trade deficits, which the government is unable to eliminate as the economy is not diversified (Eze, & Ogiji, 2016).
Several changes have been initiated in Nigeria in the last 2-3 years. President Muhammadu Buhari won the presidency in the country replacing the incumbent president, Goodluck Jonathan. The government is making good efforts in the fight against corruption in the country. Its actions have led to court charges for some top officials in the government suspected of committing fraud. The menace of Boko Haram has been dealt with significantly by the Nigerian Army with help from the American Government. The Islamist group is being slowly pushed out of civilization through the concerted efforts of the two armies.
The foreign affairs of the Republic of Nigeria are complex even though it has a close relationship with its neighbors. Nevertheless, Nigeria had a border dispute with Cameroon, which was solved by the International Court of Justice in 2008. Most of the country’s International focus is more inclined to the African affairs as compared to other parts of the world. Nigeria is a committed member of the United Nations, the African Union, and the Economic Community of Western African States. She is also a member of the World Trade Organization, the World Bank, and the International Monetary Fund. Finally, Nigeria has good diplomatic relations with the major world powers including the United States of America, Britain, China, and the Russian Federation (Lawal, Aluko & I., 2016).
Conclusion
Nigeria is the largest and most populated country in Africa, which makes it a lucrative place for any investor to consider. The market provided by the people is enough for numerous company to operate efficiently. Her stability and democracy have started improving showing which increases investors’ confidence in the country. While the country still faces some problems just like other developing countries, Sharjah Chamber of Commerce & Industry should feel free to invest in Nigeria as it is an ideal investment location.
References
Eze, O. R., & Ogiji, F. O. (2016). Impact of Deficit Financing on Economic Stability in Nigeria: Analysis of Economic Growth. Journal of Applied Finance and Banking, 6(1), 111.
Maps of World. (2016). Mapsofworld.com. Retrieved 12 November 2016, from http://www.mapsofworld.com/nigeria/facts.html
Lawal, E. E., Aluko, O. I. (2016). Nigerian Foreign Policy: a Fourth Republic Diplomatic Escapade.
Nigeria Law Reports. (2016). Nigerialawreports.com. Retrieved 12 November 2016, from http://www.nigerialawreports.com/index.html.