"Three charts show Nigeria is not import-dependent"

" Three charts show Nigeria is not import-dependent \r\nNigeria imports far less than it should be doing, yet the oil-producing nation of 200 million people can\u2019t seem to shake off the tag of an\u00a0 import-dependent \u00a0country.\r\n\r\nWhile the country\u2019s import to\u00a0 GDP ratio \u00a0of 11.8 percent, a measure of how much a country imports relative to its economic size, suggests it is nowhere near being considered import-dependent, many Nigerians, including policymakers, are convinced otherwise.\r\n\r\nNigeria will have to import nearly two times what it currently does to measure up with the level of imports by Egypt and almost three times more to match up to South Africa. While South Africa and Egypt import 31.5 and 21.9 worth of their GDP respectively, Nigeria imports only 11.8 percent, according to data from the World Bank.\r\n \r\nThat\u2019s not all. For a country that is supposedly import-dependent, Nigeria\u2019s import numbers compare poorly against some of the world\u2019s most import-dependent nations.\r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\nAccording to the World Bank, Hong Kong, Luxembourg, Malta, Singapore and Seychelles have the highest import to GDP ratios with 189.9 percent, 177.2 percent, 152.5 percent, 150.3 percent and 121.6 percent respectively.\r\n \r\nNigeria is importing at least 10 times less than each one.\r\n\r\nNigeria is also not a prolific importer when compared with countries with similar GDP sizes.\r\n\r\nThe average of nine countries with GDP ranging from $400-$450 billion as of 2022 was 47.9 percent, four times higher than Nigeria\u2019s import to GDP ratio.\r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n\r\nThe nine countries are Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand, Denmark, Philippines, South Africa, Iran, Egypt and Bangladesh.\r\n\r\nVietnam imports 91.7 percent of its GDP, the highest of the nine, while Bangladesh imports 20.9 percent.\r\n\r\n\u201cOur (Nigeria\u2019s) imports as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is nowhere near the level of peer economies and certainly not enough to say we are import-dependent,\u201d said a respected economist and former member of the\u00a0 Monetary Policy Committee \u00a0of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).\r\n\r\nImports of refined petroleum products, staples, cars and smartphones form the bulk of imports into Nigeria, according to the United Nations.\r\n\r\nNigeria, one of Africa\u2019s top oil producers, ironically imports refined petroleum products but a mega refinery, owned by the country\u2019s richest man \u2013 Aliko Dangote \u2013 began refining crude last week and is expected to reduce the country\u2019s imports.\r\n\r\nThe country\u2019s imports have soared in the last half a decade, rising from N13.17 trillion in 2018 to N22.28 trillion in 2022, overcoming the COVID-19 setback in that period, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics.\r\n\r\nThe nation\u2019s total trade amounted to N31.70 trillion in 2018, comprising N13.17 trillion imports and N18.53 trillion exports, with a trade surplus of N5.37 trillion. In 2019, Nigeria\u2019s total trade amounted to N36.15 trillion, made up of N16.96 trillion imports and N19.19 trillion exports, with a trade surplus of N2.23 trillion.\r\n\r\nBut things took a terrible turn in 2020 due to the COVID-19 lockdown. Total trade fell to N25.22 trillion, consisting of N12.70 trillion imports and N12.52 trillion exports, resulting in a trade deficit of N178.26 billion. In 2021, total trade recovered as it rose to N39.8 trillion, comprising N20.84 trillion imports and N18.91 trillion exports, leaving a smaller trade deficit of N1.94 trillion.\r\n\r\nIn 2022, Nigeria\u2019s trade swung back into surplus after total trade value hit N49.42 trillion, with total imports at N22.28 trillion.\r\n\r\nThe misconception that Nigeria imports too much has sometimes distracted policymakers, making them focus unnecessarily on curbing imports to relieve currency pressures.\r\n\r\n\u201cThe actual focus should be on how to boost exports,\u201d Muda Yusuf, CEO of the Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise, said.\r\n\r\nNigeria has abandoned an unpopular currency ban on importers of some 43 items that was introduced by the former CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele. But it took Nigeria eight years to see the damage that did to the economy.\r\n\r\n\u201cPolicies aimed at curbing imports into Nigeria are misguided, as the level of imports into an economy reflects the level of productivity of that economy,\u201d said Bongo Adi, an economics professor at the Lagos Business School, Pan-Atlantic University.\r\n\r\n\u201cNigeria is not import-dependent as widely preconceived, not when our import to GDP is one of the lowest in the world,\u201d Adi added."

"Three charts show Nigeria is not import-dependent"

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