JOHANNESBURG - The International Monetary Fund (IMF), has predicted that the Nigerian economy is expected to grow by 1.9 percent in 2018, up from 0.8 per cent in 2017, due largely to fewer disruptions in oil production.
This prediction was given by Amine Mati, IMF’s Senior Resident Representative, while he presented the “Fall 2018 Regional Economic Outlook for Sub-Saharan Africa’’ on Thursday in Abuja, the Sun reported.
Mati added that some pick-up in the non-oil economy was also responsible for the predicted growth rate.
According to him the recovery is expected to contribute about 0.7 percentage points to the region’s average growth in 2018 and lift activity in Nigeria’s trading partners through stronger remittances, financial spillovers and import demand.
Nigeria to host Africa Trade Forum 2018
Earlier this week it was anounched that Nigeria would host Africa Trade Forum 2018.
The Forum, hosted by Nigeria’s Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, and co-organised by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), The Rockefeller Foundation, and the African Union Commission (AUC), is set to take place on 2-3 November, 2018 in Lagos.
The Forum will bring together stakeholders from across the continent, from political and governance spheres, the private sector and entrepreneurs, philanthropies, academia, researchers, and development partners, to discuss the process for realizing the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
The AfCFTA was signed in March 2018 by 44 African countries and, if ratified, will become one of the world’s largest trading blocs.
It is also the biggest trade agreement signed since the World Trade Organisation (WTO) was established, bringing together 1.3 billion people with a combined gross domestic product (GDP) of more than $2 trillion in a single market. The agreement aims to provide improved competition and lower business costs.