The Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO), Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has highlighted a troubling trend in Nigeria’s economic performance.
Speaking at the Nigerian Bar Association’s (NBA) General Conference on Sunday, the former Finance Minister under President Goodluck Jonathan revealed that Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth has been on a steady decline since 2014.
Okonjo-Iweala explained that this downturn has adversely impacted the economic well-being of the average Nigerian. Reflecting on the period between 2000 and 2014, she noted that the country experienced an average GDP growth rate of 3.8%, outpacing the population growth rate of 2.6% per year. This period marked an improvement in living standards for many Nigerians.
However, she pointed out that since 2014, this positive momentum has reversed, with GDP growth recording an average annual decline of 0.9%. The inability of the government to maintain the economic progress achieved by previous administrations has left many Nigerians worse off.
“In the decade from 2000 to 2014, we had an average GDP growth rate of 3.8%, which exceeded the population growth rate of 2.6%, meaning people were, on average, truly improving their standard of living,” Okonjo-Iweala remarked. “But during the following decade, average annual GDP per capita has been negative, around minus 0.9%, meaning people were worse off because we couldn’t sustain the prior positive growth momentum.”
