Understanding the relationship between growth and employment in Nigeria (Olu Ajakaiye, Afeikhena T. Jerome, David Nabena, Olufunke A. Alaba, Brookings)

Nigeria has maintained remarkable growth over the last decade, recording an average growth rate of 6.8 percent from a large economic base and the potential for further growth is reasonably high. Real gross domestic product (GDP) growth was estimated at 6.23 percent in 2014 compared to 5.49 percent in 2013. The rebasing of its GDP in April 2014 by the National Bureau of Statistics to better reflect the size and structure of the economy, saw it surge past South Africa to become Africa’s largest economy with a rebased GDP estimate of $454 billion in 2012 and $510 billion in 2013. The rebased GDP, using updated prices and improved methodology, also reveals a more diversified economy than previously thought. The Nigerian economy now appears to be more diversified, with rising contributions of previously undocumented services (including the entertainment industry) to GDP. In addition, as a result of banking sector reforms, especially the bank consolidation exercise of 2004, an increasing number of private Nigerian banks are present in many African countries.

http://www.brookings.edu/research/papers/2016/05/05-growth-employment-nigeria-ajakaiye-jerome-nabena-alaba