The World Bank released its Doing Business 2020 report and Africa’s economic powerhouse, Nigeria, was ranked among the most improved countries. It ranks 131st among 194 countries observed; it moved 15 spots from the 146th placement in the 2018 ranking.
This is good news, of course, except that it does not reflect the true economic situation of the country at the moment. Interestingly though, President Muhammadu Buhari who, prior to the release of the World Bank report, had faulted data collated by international bodies as “wild estimates that bear little relation to the facts on the ground”—has suddenly expressed delight with the new ranking. But contrary to the report, the reality is that Nigeria is far from an economy with improved ease of doing business, especially considering the bad economic policies of the Buhari administration.
However, despite the country’s ratification of the Africa Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA), which aims to promote free trade among African countries, the Nigerian government has its borders closed; The government hopes this would stop the importation of rice and encourage local production…..
To read more, check full article on the Guardian Newspaper.