Nigeria

Why trade or invest in Nigeria?

Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal republic in West Africa, bordering Niger in the north, Chad in the northeast, Cameroon in the east, and Benin in the west. Its coast in the south is located on the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean. The federation comprises 36 states and 1 Federal Capital Territory, where the capital, Abuja, is located. The constitution defines Nigeria as a democratic secular country.

Nigeria is often referred to as the "Giant of Africa", owing to its large population and economy. With 186 million inhabitants, Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa and the seventh most populous country in the world. Nigeria has the third-largest youth population in the world, after India and China, with more than 90 million of its population under age 18. The country is viewed as a multinational state as it is inhabited by 250 ethnic groups, of which the three largest are the Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba; these ethnic groups speak over 250 different languages and are identified with a wide variety of cultures. The official language is English. Nigeria is divided roughly in half between Christians, who live mostly in the southern part of the country, and Muslims, who live mostly in the north. A minority of the population practice religions indigenous to Nigeria, such as those native to the Igbo and Yoruba ethnicities.

As of 2015, Nigeria is the world's 20th largest economy, worth more than $500 billion and $1 trillion in terms of nominal GDP and purchasing power parity respectively. It overtook South Africa to become Africa's largest economy in 2014. The 2013 debt-to-GDP ratio was 11 percent. Nigeria is considered to be an emerging market by the World Bank; it has been identified as a regional power on the African continent, a middle power in international affairs, and has also been identified as an emerging global power. Nigeria is a member of the MINT group of countries, which are widely seen as the globe's next "BRIC-like" economies. It is also listed among the "Next Eleven" economies set to become among the biggest in the world. Nigeria is a founding member of the African Union and a member of many other international organizations, including the United Nations, the Commonwealth of Nations and OPEC.

Economy

The economy has become the largest in Africa and is highly dependent on revenue from oil and gas – being the one of the largest producers of crude oil globally. Changes have now been proposed to help diversify the economy with other industries showing significant growth opportunities being consumer goods and retail, real estate, agriculture and infrastructure. The Nigerian government has also introduced a number of incentives to attract foreign investors. These include a favourable company income tax, Pioneer Status Grants, Free Trade Zones and tax relief for research and development. Investors can also repatriate 100% of profits and dividends, while full ownership of companies is granted in all sectors apart from oil and gas.

Whom we work for

A-Law experienced lawyers welcome all clients in need of legal advice including legal defense with regard to the investment and trade projects in or from Nigeria.  Guiding foreign investors into the Nigerian corporate and bank regulations, license requests and public procurement policies may constitute a challenge on its own.

A-Law has built up this expertise as well as provided multiple legal services to Nigerian companies providing engineering, IT, construction, logistics services in other EU and non EU countries involving i.a. tax, labor, migration and IP issues.  A-Law Nigeria desk has been providing legal support to clients in different areas, such as real estate issues, corporate and civil (family) law, traffic law, migration law, liability law and debts recovery (bankruptcy, administrative fines).

An in-depth approach of the different legal aspects of cross border cooperation and trade, commercial agency, distribution and franchising of a wide variety of products exported from or imported into Nigeria have been assessed through A-Law dedicated team.