ABUJA, OCTOBER 27, 2018 – The 2018 Global Competitiveness Report (GCR) of the World Economic Forum (WEF) has ranked Nigeria 115th out of 140 countries assessed.
A statement issued by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Industry, Trade and Investment, Office of the Vice President, Dr. Jumoke Oduwole, said the report showed improved performance across key enabling business environment indicators.
The GCR is an annual ranking, which compares the national competitiveness environment of 140 countries based on 12 pillars – four grouped under basic requirements, six under efficiency enhancers and two under innovation and sophistication factors.
Based on the 12 pillars, Dr Oduwole said: “Nigeria improved in the area of Enabling Environment, the country improved in three out of four pillars classified as Enabling Environment pillars — Institutions, Infrastructure, ICT adoption and macro-stability pillars.
“This recognises the enabling business environment reforms of the Federal Government in making Nigeria an easier place to do business in. Nigeria was ranked top 100 in terms of `Business Dynamism’.
“The report further acknowledged the positive perception of the private sector for the government’s Doing Business reforms, by scoring improvements in the time and cost of starting a business in the country. Nigeria’s inflation rate has steadily declined to near single-digits since 2017.”
She said although the report recorded Nigeria’s annual inflation rate at 16 per cent in 2017, it was important to note that inflation has progressively declined in 2018 to 11.28 per cent as at September.
Dr Oduwole further said: “Nigeria’s competitive environment is one of the most entrepreneurial in the world. The feedback from the private sector as surveyed by WEF ranked the attitude of Nigerians for taking an entrepreneurial risk as the 13th in the world among the likes of Israel and the U.S., which are currently in first and second positions respectively.’’
According to her, the report aligned with the broader private sector-led growth model of the Federal Government, stemming from the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) launched in April, which prioritised investing in the people.
Oduwole, who is also the Secretary of the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC), said Nigeria’s market size remains an increasing source of competitive advantage in the global economy, adding that the report ranked the Nigerian market as 24th largest in the world.
The statement also quoted the National Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC) as saying that between 2017 and the first half of 2018, about 154 investment projects had been announced across the country with an estimated value of about $112 billion.
