Nigeria
Nigeria, one-third larger than Texas and the most populous country in Africa, is situated on the Gulf of Guinea in West Africa. Its neighbors are Benin, Niger, Cameroon, and Chad. The lower course of the Niger River flows south through the western part of the country into the Gulf of Guinea. Swamps and mangrove forests border the southern coast; inland are hardwood forests.
History
The first inhabitants of what is now Nigeria were thought to have been the Nok people (500 BC –c. AD 200). The Kanuri, Hausa, and Fulani peoples subsequently migrated there. Islam was introduced in the 13th century, and the empire of Kanem controlled the area from the end of the 11th century to the 14th.
The Fulani empire ruled the region from the beginning of the 19th century until the British annexed Lagos in 1851 and seized control of the rest of the region by 1886. It formally became the Colony and Protectorate of Nigeria in 1914. During World War I, native troops of the West African frontier force joined with French forces to defeat the German garrison in Cameroon.
Info
Current government officials
Languages: English (official), Hausa, Yoruba, Ibo, Fulani, and more than 200 others
Ethnicity/race: More than 250 ethnic groups, including Hausa and Fulani 29%, Yoruba 21%, Ibo 18%, Ijaw 10%, Kanuri 4%, Ibibio 3.5%, Tiv 2.5%
Religions: Islam 50%, Christian 40%, indigenous beliefs 10%
National Holiday: Independence Day (National Day), October 1
Literacy rate: 68% (2003 est.)
Economic summary: GDP/PPP (2009 est.): $357.2 billion; per capita $2,400. Real growth rate: 5%. Inflation: 11.5%. Unemployment: 4.9%. Arable land: 33%. Agriculture: cocoa, peanuts, palm oil, corn, rice, sorghum, millet, cassava (tapioca), yams, rubber; cattle, sheep, goats, pigs; timber; fish. Labor force: 50.13 million; agriculture 70%, industry 10%, services 20% (1999 est.). Industries: crude oil, coal, tin, columbite; palm oil, peanuts, cotton, rubber, wood; hides and skins, textiles, cement and other construction materials, food products, footwear, chemicals, fertilizer, printing, ceramics, steel, small commercial ship construction and repair. Natural resources: natural gas, petroleum, tin, columbite, iron ore, coal, limestone, lead, zinc, arable land. Exports: $45.4 billion (2009 est.): petroleum and petroleum products 95%, cocoa, rubber. Imports: $42.0 billion (2009 est.): machinery, chemicals, transport equipment, manufactured goods, food and live animals. Major trading partners: U.S., Brazil, Spain, China, UK, Netherlands, France, Germany (2006).
Member of Commonwealth of Nations
Communications: Telephones: main lines in use: 1.688 million (2006); mobile cellular: 32.322 million (2006). Radio broadcast stations: AM 83, FM 36, shortwave 11 (2001). Radios: 23.5 million (1997).
Television broadcast stations: 3 (the government controls 2 broadcasting stations and 15 repeater stations) (2002). Televisions: 6.9 million (1997). Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 1,968 (2007). Internet users: 8 million (2006).
Transportation: Railways: total: 3,505 km (2006). Highways: total: 194,394 km; paved: 60,068 km (including 1,194 km of expressways); unpaved: 134,326 km (1999 est.). Waterways: 8,600 km (Niger and Benue rivers and smaller rivers and creeks) (2007). Ports and harbors: Calabar, Lagos, Onne, Port Harcourt, Sapele, Warri. Airports: 70 (2007).
First Contact
The Nigerian Export-Import Bank (NEXIM) was established by Act 38 of 1991 as an Export Credit Agency (ECA) with a share capital of N50, 000,000,000 (Fifty Billion Naira) held equally by the Federal Ministry of Finance Incorporated and the Central Bank of Nigeria.
The Bank presently provides short and medium term loans to Nigerian exporters. It also provides short term guarantees for loans granted by Nigerian Banks to exporters as well as credit insurance against political and commercial risks in the event of non-payment by foreign buyers. The Bank is also the government’s National Guarantor under the ECOWAS Inter-state Road Transit programme.