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Africa debate: Is Nigeria ready to lead the continent? – Nigeria recently overtook South Africa to become Africa’s biggest economy. But the country faces myriad problems – including a brutal Islamist-led insurgency, high levels of poverty, and widespread corruption. Can it now become the continent’s leader? BBC Africa canvassed the views of both Nigerians and other Africans.

Africa debates: Is Nigeria ready to lead the continent?

What is Africa’s most prosperous country? According to new research from the Legatum Institute, which last week ranked prosperity in

Top 10: Africa’s most prosperous countries

Nigeria gets a new president in Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu

Now That Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu is President

<p>Africa debate: Is Nigeria ready to lead the continent? – Nigeria recently overtook South Africa to become Africa’s biggest economy. But the country faces myriad problems – including a brutal Islamist-led insurgency, high levels of poverty, and widespread corruption. Can it now become the continent’s leader? BBC Africa canvassed the views of both Nigerians and other Africans.</p><p></p><h3>Simi Fajemirokun, Nigerian</h3><div><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/threepsmars/image/upload/v1659883848/neiq4mubrpnvlv7niphk.png" alt=""> <span></span></div><p>Nigeria is already leading Africa by the sheer size of its population, its emergence as the largest economy on the continent and its cultural prowess via its music and film industry across the globe. History provides further evidence of this in Nigeria’s peacekeeping role in West Africa, which brought stability to the region, quelling the civil wars in Sierra Leone and Liberia.</p><p>So how well is Nigeria fulfilling its leadership role? At present, Nigeria’s leaders lack a sense of awareness and purpose and this has led to confused policies and blunders such as the kidnapping of the Chibok girls, the passing of an anti-gay law and too many others to mention.</p><p><br><strong>Nigeria in numbers<br></strong>Population - <strong>167m</strong> | <strong>$509.9bn (£307.6bn) GDP</strong> in 2013 | <strong>68</strong> mobile phones per 100 people | <strong>52</strong> years life expectancy | <strong>57%</strong> adult literacy rate <em>(Source: UN AFP)</em></p><p>This poor leadership also overshadows the amazing things happening behind the scenes, but as the old gives way to the new, a better Nigeria is being unveiled. From technology to fashion to music, Nigeria’s next generation have revealed the open secret – that Nigeria was destined to lead Africa.</p><p><a href="https://www.3psmars.org/news/world-africa-26770178" target="_blank">Nigeria’s Afrobeats stars</a><br><a href="https://www.3psmars.org/news/world-africa-13949550" target="_blank">Nigeria facts and figures</a><br><a href="https://www.3psmars.org/news/world-africa-20887170" target="_blank">Inside Nigeria’s secret gay club</a><br><em><ins>Simi Fajemirokun is a management consultant in Abuja</ins></em></p><p></p><h3>Simon Allison, South African</h3><div><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/threepsmars/image/upload/v1659885574/sbbpmj4vcnrzhl4zbbdi.png" alt=""> <span></span></div><p>No, is the view from Johannesburg. Economically, Nigeria’s newly inflated gross domestic product (GDP) means very little here. We know that these are just re-arranged numbers on some bureaucrat’s spreadsheet, and that our economy is still more diversified, sustainable and ultimately attractive to investors. Our real concern is political. Nigeria and South Africa are locked in a fierce tussle over who will be the African superpower, and Nigeria has just robbed us of our most potent advantage.<br><a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-27885700#story_continues_2" target="_blank">Continue reading the main story</a>&nbsp;</p><p>Tune in to the BBC World Service at 1200 GMT on Friday 27 June to listen to The Africa Debate: Is Nigeria ready to lead Africa? It will also be rebroadcast that day in Africa at 1900 GMT. To take part on Twitter – use the hashtag #BBCAfricaDebate – Facebook or Google+ South Africa’s pre-eminence in continental affairs, and its membership of institutions such as the G20 and Brics, as well as a potential permanent seat on the UN Security Council, rests on its claim to be Africa’s largest economy. That title now belongs to Nigeria, which is also Africa’s most populous country. So, who should be represented on these bodies? South Africa’s concerns are compounded by fears, expressed privately by government officials and diplomats, that chaotic, corruption-prone Nigeria is unfit to assume the mantle of continental leadership. Most South Africans would tend to agree: The perception persists of Nigerians as drug dealers and 419 scammers, making it hard for Nigeria to be taken seriously here.</p><p><a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-27141581" target="_blank">The migrants doing business in SA townships</a><br><a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-14094760" target="_blank">South Africa facts and figures</a><br><em><ins>Simon Allis on is Africa correspondent of South Africa’s Daily Maverick newspaper</ins></em></p><h3>Nicole Amarteifio, Ghanaian</h3><p>As soon as you expect one country to lead the entire continent, it is as if the other countries, numbering more than 50, are absolved of all responsibility. Whether a country has a population of 150 million people or three million people, each African country is responsible for the leadership of the continent – whether it is endowed with resources or not. It is like a relay race, where the team is only as strong as its weakest runner.</p><div><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/threepsmars/image/upload/v1659885920/fzhjchc5gfwnhqjjrup9.png" alt=""> <span></span></div><p>In the same way, the African continent is only as strong as its weakest country. So, we should all find the weakest country in Africa, turn to it and ask: Are you ready to lead?<br><em><ins>Nicole Amarteifio is creator of the web series, An African City</ins></em></p><p></p><p></p><h3>Antony Ragui, Kenyan</h3><p>When I launched the I Paid A Bribe website to document corruption in Kenya, my next country of focus was Nigeria. But bureaucracy and lack of goodwill was a barrier. Nigeria is infamous for weak governance, regulatory failure, weak leadership and an unstructured economy. This creates a gap for corruption to thrive.</p><div><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/threepsmars/image/upload/v1659886359/jxqvgu5k3lx38pxe1gtf.png" alt=""> <span></span></div><p>Nigeria is known for many things, some of them positive, like football, music and Nollywood movies. It also has a strong banking presence in Africa and boasts Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, a continent-wide investor. But it is also known for corruption and crime. Many Kenyans partly blame Nigerians for stricter immigration rules, particularly for travelling to the UK and South Africa. I recall being stopped by customs officers at Heathrow, the main airport in London.&nbsp;</p><p>The reason? I was seen talking to a Nigerian who had just been arrested for ferrying drugs. All of this is detrimental to Nigeria’s image as a leader of the continent. To take a leadership position, Nigeria must fix its foundations.</p><p><a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-26535530" target="_blank">Is Nigeria serious about tackling corruption?</a><br><a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-11622271" target="_blank">Africa viewpoint: Nollywood and religion</a><br><em><ins>Antony Ragui set up the I Paid a Bribe website in Nairobi</ins></em></p><h3>Elnathan John, Nigerian</h3><div><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/threepsmars/image/upload/v1659887008/yenrrx3hgfmlxcfmq1eo.png" alt=""> <span></span></div><p>Two overriding questions arise: Is Africa going anywhere? Is Nigeria ready to lead itself out of its own chaos? I would like to hope that the answer to both questions is yes. But hope, unlike faith, is premised on reason and justification.</p><p>In spite of robust claims of a rising continent, countries still work at cross purposes, travel within the continent is prohibitively expensive, major powers antagonise each other, competing instead of cooperating, and poverty and conflict is on the increase.</p><p>While there is undeniable proof of economic growth which has resulted in Nigeria becoming the largest economy in Africa, much of this growth has had nothing to do with government planning, policy or promotion, save for new billionaires whose rapidly acquired wealth flows from government contracts, monopolies and unfair business practices.</p><p>This is possible only in a country where regulation is weak or openly controlled by cabals. When private business flourishes, it does so in spite of Nigeria’s infrastructure – and political and social systems – being dysfunctional.</p><div><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/threepsmars/image/upload/v1659887053/zubd5ornmqp1e8xjkhwi.png" alt=""> <span></span></div><p>Most Nigerian still struggle to earn a basic living. Worse still, Nigeria is either callous or in denial about the crises which threaten its relative stability leading up to the 2015 elections – from the Boko Haram insurgency to clashes between farming communities and pastoralists. It seems all that a rational mind can have is faith.</p><p><a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-27823386" target="_blank">Boko Haram crisis in deadliest phase</a><br><a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-13809501" target="_blank">Who are Nigeria’s Boko Haram Islamists?</a><br><em><ins>Elnathan John is a lawyer and writer based in Abuja</ins></em></p><h3>Chibundu Onuzo, Nigerian</h3><p>Much has been made of Nigeria’s inclusion into business guru Jim Neill’s magic acronyms. Hurrah! Nigeria made it into the Mint club – Mexico, Indonesia, Nigeria and Turkey – which Mr Neill identifies as the emerging powerhouses, rivalling Brics – Brazil, Russia, India and South Africa. Greatness is just round the bend. Already, we have started dressing the part.</p><div><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/threepsmars/image/upload/v1659887224/h4qbqqrccjgs9qdjcarw.png" alt=""> <span></span></div><p>Last month, we hosted the World Economic Forum (WEF). This year, we rebased our GDP to show recent growth.</p><p>But to ensure that ours is not a case of style of over substance, we must address the basics – education, health, security, electricity and roads.</p><div><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/threepsmars/image/upload/v1659887258/rkithcuzdudrejcpflrb.png" alt=""> <span></span></div><p>I have a relative who almost died from fake drugs. He swallowed pill after pill for a condition that steadily deteriorated until luckily he discovered his medicine was made of chalk.</p><p>That was before Dora Akunyili became the head of the Nigerian Agency for Food and Drug Control in 2008. Under her leadership, the counterfeit products that flooded the Nigerian market were flushed out in a matter of years.</p><p>Mrs Akunyili, who recently died, demonstrated how quickly transformation could take place in a sector when a leader is willing to step up to the plate. Nigeria has more soft power than any other country on the continent. Our culture is exported via film and music.</p><div><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/threepsmars/image/upload/v1659887301/gmwmtjqfhzhmaj1rdfeh.png" alt=""> <span></span></div><p>I was in South Africa earlier this year and I met many Joburgers hooked on Nollywood films and there was no bar or cafe I stepped into whose playlist did not have Nigerian music. Thus in some areas, we already lead the continent. Yet, on issues like healthcare and education, smaller countries like Rwanda and Mauritius continue to consistently outperform us. Perhaps we overestimate size. Kwame Nkrumah, Thomas Sankara and Amilcar Cabral were all men from relatively small countries whose leadership improved the lives of their citizens and gave them standing in Africa and the world.</p><p>Leadership can transform a country, no matter how narrow its borders or how shallow its natural resource deposits. One can only imagine the wonders that would take place if Nigeria’s abundant wealth was paired with visionary leadership.</p><p><a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-25548060" target="_blank">Why are the Mint countries special?</a><br><em><ins>Chibundu Onuzo is a Nigerian writer studying in the UK</ins></em></p><h3>Ronak Gopaldas, South African</h3><p>Investors are clamouring to get into Nigeria – and it’s easy to see why. The country’s compelling investment proposition, massive growth prospects, low public debt and a strong external balance sheet means that the country is well placed to become a regional leader and economic powerhouse.</p><p>That is over and above the associated benefits of higher oil prices. Overall prospects for the economy remain robust despite the state of Nigeria’s politics – volatile, complex and often messy.</p><div><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/threepsmars/image/upload/v1659887485/p9c2rzet5ayshzlaoyt2.png" alt=""> <span></span></div><p>While high levels of poverty and unemployment will occasionally combine with the country’s ethnic and religious cleavages to create a mixture that will spill over into outbreaks of violence, the country is unlikely to devolve into a failed state.</p><p>Nigeria’s influence is derived from a large population of more than 150 million people, abundant natural resources, an engaged and entrepreneurial diaspora, on-going reforms in the power and banking sectors, and emerging opportunities in the agricultural, manufacturing and services sectors of a rapidly growing economy.</p><p>Despite the political logjams, and some expected and unexpected setbacks along the way, Nigeria will likely have more hits than misses in the long term.</p><p><a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-26873233" target="_self">How Nigeria became Africa’s biggest economy</a><br><em><ins>Ronak Gopaldas is a risk analyst based in Johannesburg</ins></em></p><h3>Nigeria in a word</h3><p>What comes to mind when you think about Nigeria? Let us know using the hashtag #onewordnigeria. BBC Africa is also hosting a Google Hangout about Nigeria’s image on <a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/bbcafrica" target="_blank">Tuesday 24 June 2014 between 11:00 GMT and 12:00 GMT.</a>&nbsp;</p><p>The Africa Debate – Is Nigeria ready to lead Africa?- will be broadcast on the BBC World Service at 12:00 GMT on Friday 27 June and again at 19:00 GMT in Africa – and will be available to listen to <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00nb3cn" target="_blank">online</a> or as a <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/africadebate" target="_blank">download</a> .</p>

<p><strong>What is Africa’s most prosperous country?<br></strong>According to new research from the Legatum Institute, which last week ranked prosperity in 38 African countries around criteria ranging from economics to education to health, the title belongs to Botswana, the diamond-rich country in southern Africa.</p><p>As well as posting a relatively high per capita Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of $15,176, Botswana also fared well in terms of governance, education and personal freedom. As the country spends 8% of its GDP on education, it is among the biggest proportional spenders in the world according to the World Bank. This is the third year in a row that Botswana has topped the index.</p><p>In contrast, the Central African Republic was the lowest ranked country on the continent. The country, which has a per capita GDP of $584, has seen increasing violence since the end of 2012, and only 21.5% of the population have access to sanitation according to the prosperity index.</p><p></p><h3>Biggest gainers</h3><p>Rwanda was the best improver, gaining five ranking places to end up as the eighth most prosperous country in Africa. The country was found to have the sixth highest ranking in regulation and government effectiveness, the eighth highest score in rule of law and the lowest perceptions of corruption in Africa.</p><p>“Rwanda deserves credit for actively encouraging women to play a central role in shaping the future of their country. And it seems to be paying dividends,” says the report. These findings bucked trends across the continent, where 41% of women are out of work, as opposed to 23% of men.</p><p>“We cannot talk about the prosperity of women in Africa if we don’t change the inappropriate policies that hinder their progress,” argues Marieme Jamme, a Davos Young Global leader and CEO of SpotOne Global Solutions. “We cannot sugar coat the issues of funding, mentoring, gender equality, recognition and representation and expect women to come winners within the current framework and plans we have in Africa.”</p><p>Other notable gainers since 2012 included countries from East Africa — while neither Kenya nor Mozambique featured in the top 10 most prosperous countries in Africa, they both rose by four places in the rankings since 2012.</p><p>As over 44% of Kenyans thought it was a good time to find employment, the country ranked ninth in terms of entrepreneurship and opportunity. But following the 2013 siege in Nairobi’s Westgate Mall, the country ranked 32 of 38 in terms of safety and security.</p><p></p><blockquote>Initiatives that support women empowerment and a more active participation in business will be key for future prosperity.<br>- <strong>Novella Bottini, Economist in the Prosperity Index</strong></blockquote><p></p><h3>Falling down the ranks</h3><p>Regional partner Tanzania, by contrast, fell eight places since 2012 going from 11th to 19th in the latest rankings. A drop in five-year average growth and an increase in inflation were coupled with a decline in confidence in financial institutions and falling satisfaction with living standards.</p><p>The country fared particularly badly in terms of personal freedom, where it fell from 24th to 28th.</p><p>While Tanzania’s education score rose by one place in the rankings, the report argues that Tanzania needs to improve the quality of education in schools rather than focusing on enrollment rates. “Tanzanian education is not producing graduates with the skills needed to work in the formal sector,” the report says. “The lack of an adequately skilled workforce is a hindrance to investment in sectors such as manufacturing, construction, mining, agriculture, finance, and communications…Tanzania needs education that improves students’ chances of finding employment.”</p><p></p><p><a href="http://edition.cnn.com/2014/12/18/business/africa-prosperity-rankings-2014" target="_blank">Read more on:http://edition.cnn.com/2014/12/18/business/africa-prosperity-rankings-2014</a>&nbsp;</p><p>The following two tabs change content below.</p>

<p>“<strong><em>Fuel Subsidy is Gone</em></strong>” Those were his words. The issue of subsidy is what I have written on many times previously and will still find time to write about in the coming days to break down the fuzzy concept.</p><div><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/threepsmars/image/upload/v1685535228/bwpsgd6ua4cqllcpqmgk.png" alt="Tinubu takes his Oath"> <span>Tinubu takes his Oath</span></div><p>In the build up to the 2023 presidential election, acquintances would ask me, who would you vote for? It is meant to be a personal secret (ballot is secret), but still, Tinubu, I will tell them. More than often, they seem unhappy and query why I would choose an “85 year old man”, “drug baron”, “someone who’s incoherent” and all sorts of questions that when you ask them, they always do not know those things for a fact, they hear it and propagate it without check. In 2002 for instance, I was in the university, when His Excellency Bola Ahmed Tinubu celebrated his 50th birthday in the open, so, it didn’t make sense to me that 21 years after, he would have added more years than 21. Well, statements like the above quote from his speech today, <strong>showcasing COURAGE</strong>, formed the bases of my confidence in him as being very capable and in fact, the most capable of the candidates that had chances of getting the numbers. I cannot point to any other candidate with his level of courage. The battles before him in the election build up are testaments of this courage. In the party primaries, for someone who last held office in 2007, he contested against a sitting Vice President, the President of the Senate, three sitting Governors and three sitting Ministers, defeating them all. Compared to one of the candidates that had to leave a competitive political party to another where there was practically no contest, he is indeed courageous.</p><p>This post is about the potentials of a Tinubu administration, there are no doubts about his courage, a core ingredient required by any leader and you don’t find it always, it is scarce. Many leaders only hide behind their powers, they are not exactly courageous. Fuel subsidy for instance, is an albatross, but it is difficult to confront because we fear the ripple effects. The Buhari administration was almost there in 2020, they had hands off fuel subsidy when oil price dropped globally and prices of products also dropped. But what happened? Oil prices started climbing again and unfortunately, Naira crashed against the US dollar at the same time. Naira prices of products would go up since the currency lost value, but government was unable to let it be, they went back to subsidising it. To be candid, if not for subsidy, we would have bought petrol at N700.00 at a point and maybe be buying it at around N500.00 now (which is where I see the price headed post subsidy removal). It looks like it is better to keep the subsidy until you realise that what we spend to subsidise in a month is almost enough to build one Second Niger Bridge. Yes, the 2NB was built at a cost of about N210bn and that’s exactly what we spend to keep petrol prices cheap monthly. We have been making choices between bridges and cheap petrol and have been choosing cheap petrol. We cannot grow if we continue on that path. I was therefore happy today when I heard from Tinubu — “Fuel subsidy is gone”. It will hurt, but is a better economic decision.</p><h2><strong>President Tinubu made other statements today;</strong></h2><p>“<em>Nigeria will be impartially governed with rule of law</em>”</p><p>“ <em>We shall remodel our economy to achieve a much better GDP than we have today</em>” — I am excited by this, productivity of our economy is too low for our population size, we need to build it to where most people have something doing, we need to get to a level where even if you retire from one job, you can still pick up another job.</p><p>“<em>In our administration, women and youths will feature prominently</em>” I do not doubt this promise one bit, it is there in his antecedents.</p><p>“<em>We will lower interest rates</em>” The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has under the guise of fighting inflation, been raising Monetary Policy Rates (MPR), it is currently at 18.5%. Our inflation is not driven by high demand for goods, we are not having inflation because there is so much money, so, raising rates to discourage borrowing is a wrong solution. Our inflation is mostly cost-driven, prices of goods and services increase because cost of business is high, you do not increase lending rates again, it will do nothing but further exacerbate the problem and that is what has been happening. CBN has been approaching the problem by creating further problems. I hope Asiwaju finds a way to agree on a more positive direction with CBN in this regards.</p><p>Generally, Tinubu inspires confidence in those who work with him, he gives them that much confidence to push on and when he is behind you, rest, assured that he is truly behind you. His people are able to deliver for him because of the confidence that he inspires and he, in turn reposes in his people. We have been too afraid to confront many of our problems, this is why we have opportunities all around us without being able to convert them into wealth opportunities. Waste disposal used to be a huge problem in Lagos, with over 15 million living in a small land area, that problem today, has been converted to wealth. The Atlantic Ocean surge on Ahmadu Bello Way in Victoria Island had turned properties on the road to ZERO value (and I’m not exaggerating, the properties had been abandoned). It was a problem that today, has been converted into a real estate opportunity, the Eko Atlantic City came out of the problem, generating billions in value. Public transportation was a problem, the BRT system grew out of it, turning public transport problem into a business where elites competed to participate in.</p><p>In the coming days, weeks, months, years, we will see things unveil before us, it will be a pattern of governance that is futuristic and thinks of the wealth of the people first. His economic philosophy is Social Capitalism, he knows so well how to create reforms that will bring prosperity, but regulated to allow the people at the lower rung to also live well. I remember in Lagos when he was to introduce payment for waste collection, he told the people that I want your children to go to school for free, I want your children under the age of 12 to get free health treatment, but you will have to pay for your waste. I won’t pay for your wife’s delivery at the hospital and still pay to pack your waste. This is what his economic and governance philosophy looks like.</p><p>The statements he made during his campaign did not turn out to be mere words, I therefore believe that the ones he made in his speech today will also not turn out to be mere words. May God help Nigeria.</p><iframe src="https://lekanoladele.medium.com/now-that-asiwaju-bola-ahmed-tinubu-is-president-5e7036a00f0e"></iframe><p>This article was originally published at https://lekanoladele.medium.com/now-that-asiwaju-bola-ahmed-tinubu-is-president-5e7036a00f0e</p>