Background to Business in Nigeria

A large number of international organisations and business people have been wary of doing business in Nigeria for many years.

This may seem strange given that Nigeria is one of the most populous countries in Africa as well as being one of the most oil-rich places in the world. Couple this with the fact that the country is abundant in many other natural resources and has good port facilities and you might think that international business would be fighting for a piece of the action in Nigeria.
The fact that Nigeria is not a magnet for international investment could be seen as a tragedy of immense proportions. Years of political instability, regional strife and the weakening influence of massive corruption have resulted in the country failing to capitalise on its many advantages; leaving the mass of the population in relative poverty and the country enormously infra-structure poor.

Huge strides have been made in the last few years to try to tackle the many endemic problems which assail the country — with political and economic stability being seen as the key weapons in attacking the corrosive influence of corruption. Whether the actions being taken on the ground have led to dramatic improvements in levels of transparency and levels of corporate governance remain to be seen – in the meantime, the country struggles along and those doing business in Nigeria need to be aware of the issues that await them.

Author

This country-specific business culture profile was written by Keith Warburton who is the founder of the cultural awareness training consultancy Global Business Culture. 

Global Business culture is a leading training provider in the fields of cross-cultural communication and global virtual team working.  We provide training to global corporations in live classroom-based formats, through webinars and also through our cultural awareness digital learning hub, Global Business Compass.

This World Business Culture profile is designed as an introduction to business culture in Nigeria only and a more detailed understanding needs a more in-depth exploration which we can provide through our training and consultancy services.