Nigeria will be 15th largest economy by 2050, says economist

Mr Jim O'Neill, a former
Chairman, Goldman Sachs Asset
Management, a consulting firm,
said Nigeria could be the
world's15th largest economy if
its large population actively
participated in economic
development.

O'Neill made the prediction at the
ongoing 20th Nigerian Economic
Summit in Abuja on Thursday.
The theme of the summit is
"Transforming Education
through Partnerships for Global
Competitiveness".

He said that events in Brazil,
India, Russia and China known as
"Bricks Nations" had shown that
with their large populations, they
could engage the world.

Some of the made in Nigeria
goods
He said that economic growth
was driven over a long term by
population and productivity.
O'Neill said that with all available
indices, Nigeria had already been
listed among the expected 15
largest economies by 2050.

"What you are seeing today is
the list of the 15 largest
economies by 2050 and Nigeria
is there. This means that Nigeria
can be the 15th largest economy
by 2050.

"You have one ingredient in a
very substantial way; you have a
large and young population that
is outstanding significantly," he
said.
According to him, if the
population is properly harnessed,
Nigeria will make it to be the
15th largest economy by 2050.

The management consultant,
therefore, urged the Federal
Government to ensure that all the
strategies it had put in place to
drive the economy were
implemented.
He said that the Growth
Environment Score (GES) had
indicated that the largest
economies in the world also had
large population growth.

He noted that the countries that
formed 11 largest economies in
the world contributed 70 per
cent of the world population.
"So, if the 15 countries can do
the right things and improve
productivity, the world will be
diversified and be better.

"There are various variables to
help them and education is one
of them,'' he said.
O'Neill also charged the
government to strive to improve
power supply in the country,
adding that the country should
emulate South Korea, which
shared similar indicators with it.

"Today, South Korea has the
wealth of a level which is very
similar to the so-called G-7
developed nations.
"They are the only large
population which has made that
change in my life time.

"So, where they did well, you can
emulate, harness and develop
your society along those lines
and you will get to be where they
are today," he said.
He said that the Korean situation
was possible in Nigeria because
the country had more than two
times Korea's population, adding
that by 2050 Nigeria would be
six times more and wealthier
than South Korea.

He noted that no fewer than 45
million people in South Korea had
access to modern technology
which they used in helping the
growth of the country's
economy.

"If 170 million population of
Nigeria is given that tradition,
especially the young people, it is
a huge change influence, and the
second aspect is power.''
O'Neill called for more trade
among neighboring countries in
Africa in order to improve
economic activities in the region.

According to him, if Nigeria can
trade with other African nation, it
will be more self-fulfilling.
He added that "everything else is
education; get all your young
people into proper education to
give them chance to develop
their skills to contribute to
growth and development of the
economy.

"This may determine if you will
be the 15th largest economy in
the world by 2050.'' (NAN)

Reference: Vanguard