The year 2022 has been quite eventful in Nigeria across every sector of the economy. While some expectations have been met from an economic viewpoint, some others have been surpassed. At different times all year round, data to track progress, indicate milestones, reveal shortfalls and even give projections were released. The availability of these data and dissemination to the public are all instrumental in building a sustainable society.

We have compiled an inexhaustive, yet notable list of some of this data in this article.

Agriculture

A farmer in the field

$1 million tractor financing

In May, Hello Tractor, a tractor booking platform, secured $1 million from Heifer International to provide loans for tractor purchases in Nigeria.

The tractor financing Pay-As-You-Go (PAYG) model, aimed at increasing agricultural productivity in Nigeria, has enabled tractor purchases in Nasarawa, Abuja, and Enugu states. 

There are roughly 200 tractors per 100 square kilometres of agricultural land globally, but in sub-Saharan Africa, there are only about 27. This indicates that agriculture in Africa is heavily under-mechanized. The funding aims to bridge this gap. 

569,000 hectares of farmlands 

Over 569,000 hectares of farmlands were destroyed by flooding in Nigeria in 33 out of its 36 states. While 176,852 hectares of farmlands were partially damaged, 392,399 hectares were damaged. Notably, Africa’s largest rice farm, Olam Rice Farm, lost over $15 million worth of planted crops with the flood inundating 4,500 of its 13,500 hectares of rice farmland in Nasarawa state. 

While different sectors of the economy were affected, the agricultural sector was the worst hit, resulting in high cost of food. To mitigate the effect of the food crisis, the government has ordered the release of 12,000 metric tonnes of food items from the national strategic reserve for distribution to communities affected by flooding.

24.13% food inflation

The inflation rate in Nigeria continues to defy gravity. In November, food inflation, a closely watched indices, rose to 24.13% from 23.72% recorded the previous month. The rise in food inflation was caused by the increase in prices of bread and cereals, oil and fat, potatoes, yam and other tubers, food products, and fish.

$520 million for Special Agro-industrial Processing Zones Programme

$520 million is the amount the African Development Bank (AFDB) and its partners agreed to raise for the first phase of Nigeria’s Special Agro-industrial Processing Zones Programme (SAPZ). 

The zone model is an industrialization strategy to transform poor rural spaces into zones of prosperity, stem rural-urban migration, end human insecurity caused by herder-farmer clashes, and provide employment to Nigerian youth. Seven states – Kaduna, Kano, Kwara, Imo, Cross River, Ogun, and Oyo are participating in the 1st phase. 

N1.01 trillion from Anchor Borrowers’ Programme (ABP)

As of May 2022, the Central Bank of Nigeria had distributed a total of N1.01 trillion through the ABP to over 4.2 million smallholder farmers farming 21 commodities across the country. Between April and May 2022, it released the sum of N57.91 billion under the Anchor Borrowers’ Programme (ABP) to 185,972 new projects.

The initiative aims to reduce agricultural commodity importation, increase banks’ financing of the agric sector, and create a new generation of farmers, among other things. However, the ABP’s impact has been strained by factors including insecurity, flood, and default in payments.

Digital sector

People operating a desktop

$747,908,000 tech funding

Nigeria is the most popular tech startup investment destination in Africa. Between 2015 and 2022, 383 tech startups raised a combined $2,068,709,445 – a figure higher than that of any other country, according to Disrupt Africa

By August 2022, 107 Nigerian startups had raised $747,908,000 in funding, accounting for almost a third of the total number of African companies (341) to have secured investment this year on the continent. This is a few figures away from Nigeria’s annual funding total of $793,790,000 in 2021.

15,0762 tech layoffs  

According to data from layoffs.fyi, a tech layoff tracker, 15,0762 employees have been laid off by 971 tech companies globally as of the time of writing this report. It is ironic that despite the successful funding rounds that have graced the Nigerian tech ecosystem, many startups have downsized. 

Startups like Kuda, 54gene, Quidax, Eden life, Get Equity and Nestcoin, amongst many others, have laid off workers in the country. Reasons for the cut-offs and lay-offs include redundancy of roles, low performances, and override of contract staff, and unfavourable macroeconomic conditions. 

$3 billion Flutterwave

In February, African fintech Flutterwave raised $250 million in a Series D round that tripled the company’s valuation to over $3 billion in just twelve months.

At $3 billion, Flutterwave is currently the highest-valued African startup, surpassing the $2 billion valuation set by SoftBank-backed fintech OPay and FTX-backed cross-border payments platform Chipper Cash. 

$276 million for 5G

MTN and Mafab Communications Limited won bidding slots available to start the 5G spectrum services in the country after paying $276 million

MTN recently initiated a trial phase of its 5G technology in Nigeria ahead of commercial launch in seven cities – Lagos, Port Harcourt, Ibadan, Kano, Owerri, Maiduguri and Abuja. But Mafab Communications was given a 5-month extension for its rollout by the Nigerian Communications Commission over delays in receiving the numbering plan.

Energy sector

Power transmission lines.

1.9 trillion energy transition plan (ETP) 

In October, Nigeria announced its Energy Transition Plan (ETP) would require funding of about $1.9 trillion up to 2060. Nigeria’s Energy Transition Plan is a prime example of the needed evolution of policies to deliver both the growth in energy consumption necessary for sustainable development and the climate response required for the preservation of the earth.

The ETP seeks to tackle the dual crises of energy poverty and climate change and deliver universal energy access (SDG7) by 2030 and net zero by 2060.

2.1 trillion from natural gas sales

Africa’s largest economy earned N2.1 trillion from natural gas exports from January to September 2022, the highest in five years. Nigeria earned N655 billion in the first quarter, N735 billion in the second quarter and N757 billion in the third quarter of this year.

Gas produced in Nigeria is either exported or used domestically for power generation as feedstock for gas-based industries such as petrochemicals and fertiliser production, industrial heating and as fuel for natural gas vehicles.

$60 million mini-grid projects

CrossBoundary Energy Access (CBEA) and ENGIE Energy Access (ENGIE) have reached a project finance agreement to build a $60 million portfolio of mini-grids in Nigeria.

This is the largest mini-grid project finance transaction in Africa to date, with the projects expected to connect more than 150,000 people to electricity in Nigeria for the first time.

The 7th collapse of the national grid 

In September, the National Grid collapsed for the 7th time in 2022, which is more than the three recorded last year. Renewable Energy Association of Nigeria (REAN) said that such breakdowns cost Nigeria over $25 billion in economic loss annually. 

Also, it is estimated that businesses are spending over $14 billion yearly on private fossil fuel generators.

$1 billion fuel subsidy

Nigeria is Africa’s largest oil producer, but it imports refined petrol. To offset the high costs of international refining, the government sets the price of petrol for Nigerians at a level lower than the international price by paying a subsidy. In August, Nigeria’s fuel subsidy rose to N525.714 billion ($1.22 billion), bringing the total spent this year to N2.568 trillion. Consequently, the NNPC did not remit any money to the Federation Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC) this year due to subsidy costs. 

Health sector

363,000 doctors 

Nigeria needs 363,000 doctors but currently has only 24,000 licensed medical doctors available in the country, less than 10% of the number needed to meet the World Health Organisation’s recommendation. The international health body recommends one doctor for every 600 patients.

Nigeria has produced the number of doctors it needs but many of them have relocated abroad in search of greener pastures. Between January 1, 2022, and September 30, 2022, about 1,307 Nigerian-trained doctors were licensed in the UK as Nigeria battles one of the worst situations of brain drain in its history. 

$185 million on health tourism

Nigerians spent $185 million on foreign (medical) health services in the first half of 2022, falling by 65% compared to $528 million recorded in the corresponding period of 2021.

In 2020, Nigerians parted with the sum of $1 billion for foreign health-related expenses, from $2.6 billion recorded in 2019. It fell further to $615 million in 2021. With the $185 million incurred so far in 2022, it is safe to say Nigeria won’t cross the $615 million threshold for 2021. 

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