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Nigeria is rich in several other valuable minerals, including coal, tin, columbite (an iron-bearing mineral that accompanies tin), iron ore, copper, lead and zinc. There are significant uranium deposits in the northeast of the country, which have yet to be exploited on a large scale.
The agricultural sector, neglected for many years in favour of crude, has emerged to take up the slack caused by the oil output reduction. The sector contributed about 42 per cent of GDP in 2007 and employed two thirds of the country’s workforce, mostly in small-scale subsistence production. With construction, agriculture accounted for the majority of growth in Nigeria’s non-oil growth rate, which reached 9.6 per cent in 2007, and is estimated to be at 8 per cent in 2009. The country was once a net exporter of produce, but chronic underinvestment in infrastructure has left the agricultural sector underdeveloped – as a result production has been unable to keep up with urban growth and Nigeria now has to import food. Important agricultural products include cocoa, peanuts, palm oil, corn, rice, sorghum, millet, cassava (tapioca), and yams. With the unfortunate decline in the oil sector, it is hoped renewed investment will reinvigorate the agricultural sector, which still has much potential for growth.
Countries which are major export partners, largely for petroleum but also cocoa and rubber, include the United States (51.1 per cent); Brazil (7.9 per cent); Spain (7.6 per cent). Major import partners, for goods such as machinery, chemicals, transport equipment, manufactured goods, food and live animals include China (11 per cent), the Netherlands (8.1 per cent), the US (8 per cent) and the UK (5.8 per cent). Nigeria’s government sees significant growth potential in the tourism, telecommunications, manufacturing and technology industries. About one-third of the country’s power is provided by hydroelectricity, although this source has the potential to provide even more power.
In 2007, estimated GDP (purchasing power parity) was USD296.1 billion (USD166.8 billion at the official exchange rate), with a real growth rate of about
6.2 per cent. The inflation rate showed a notable decrease from two years before – 5.4 per cent in 2007, down from 17.8 per cent in 2005.
