Vast reserves of natural gas, still only partly exploited. Almost self-sufficient in food. Strong entrepreneurial class. Large domestic market of over 120 million people. Advantages of a large domestic market mitigated by low per capita purchasing power and high unit transportation costs.
Entrepreneurs focus on trade rather than production.
Of Nigeria's traditional agricultural exports only cocoa remains. Notorious corruption and maladminstration undermine investors' confidence. The economy has been characterized by massive government spending and the running up of debts which could not be serviced after the 1981 oil price fall. Such changes are politically fraught. In May 1999 the new government began reviewing recents contracts in an anticorruption drive.