Nigeria

The Federal Republic of Nigeria is located in West Africa bordering Cameroon, Benin, Chad, Niger, and the Gulf of Guinea. Nigeria is about twice the size of California and covers an area of 923,768sq. kilometers.  The total population is 175 million making it the most populated country in Africa.  The population is growing at a rate of 2.54% with 49.6% living in urban areas.  The capital of Abuja has a population of 452,000 with other main cities including Kano (9.3 mil), Lagos (9 mil), and Ibadan (5 mil). The people are governed by a federal republic and are half Muslim and half Christian.  The primary language is English and the local currency is the Nigerian Naira.

Nigeria has been long affected by political instability, corruption, and poor infrastructure, but it has begun to implement reforms in the past decade.  Oil revenues are a large contributor to GDP and account for 95% of Nigeria’s exports. Nigeria is still a developing economy in need of more economic and infrastructural reforms.  Its main trade partners are the US, China, Netherlands, Brazil, Spain, South Korea, UK, France, and Germany. Its primary imports are machinery, chemicals, transport equipment, manufactured goods, food, and live animals. Exports include petroleum and petroleum products, cocoa, and rubber. Nigeria’s GDP (Purchasing Power Parity) is $455.5 billion and is growing at a real rate of 6.3% with an inflation rate of 12.2%. Nigeria ranked 131 out of 185 countries in the World Bank Group’s Ease of Doing Business Ranking due to strict government controls on business.  
  

Click the links below for articles with more information on Franchising in Nigeria

Doing Business in Nigeria (2012)

US Commercial Service Market Report - Nigeria (2010)

African Franchising: Cross-Continental Momentum (2007)

 * CPI Score is published by Transparency International and relates to the perceptions of the degree of corruption as seen by business people and country analysts and ranges between 100 (highly clean) and 0 (highly corrupt).  

**Ease of Doing Business Ranking is determined by the World Bank Group and is ranked out of a possible 185 countries. www.doingbusiness.org  

Most recent statistics have been taken from the CIA World Factbook unless noted otherwise. 

International Franchising Opportunities

After you have finished researching the international markets, learning international expansion strategies and best practices, and understanding the basics of international franchising law, IFA provides numerous opportunities for franchising internationally.