Nigeria, 12 other countries classified lower-middle-income countries

Nigeria and 12 other countries have been listed under the lower Middle-Income Countries, MICs, according to a report on industrialisation in Africa and least developed countries, which the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) has submitted to the Group of 20(G20), Development Working Group (DWG).

The 12 other countries classified under the lower-middle-income countries along with Nigeria are Cape Verde, Cameroon, Republic of Congo, Côte d’ivoire, Djibouti, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Mauritania, São Tomé and Príncipe, Swaziland and Zambia. African MICs are highly diverse.

The UNIDO’s report which was prepared at the request of the G20 Development Working Group (DWG) in China was made available yesterday.The G20 DWG has been working to achieve a wide consensus on issues including promoting the implementation of UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. In Sub-Saharan Africa, countries with a gross domestic income (GDI) per capita of between $1,026 and $12,475 in 2015 and are classified as middle-income countries. These are Angola, Botswana, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Mauritius, Namibia and South Africa with a GDI of at least $4,036.

According to the report, “Of the Africa’s 54 countries, 48 are in sub-Saharan Africa and six in North Africa; 26 are middle-income countries (MICs), 34 LdCs, one is a high-income country (HiC), 16 are land-locked developing countries (LLdCs), and six are Small Island developing states.”

The report said “The world has 48 LdCs: 34 being in Africa, 13 in Asia and the Pacific and one in Latin America. With more than 880 million people – 12 per cent of the world’s population, they account for less than 2 per cent of global GDP and about 1 per cent of global trade in goods.”

UNIDO in its report said “Africa and LDCs should move away from the “generalised” industrial policies that have proved ineffective over the last three decades. They also need to build strong institutions and viable investment climates.”

It continued, “And they need to realise the full potential of public– private partnerships (PPPs) and the opportunities for collaboration among industry, governments and other stakeholders. The report also recommended national policy as well as regional and global collective actions to advance industrialisation and end poverty and hunger.”

It also states, “Rarely has a country evolved from poor to rich without sustained structural transformation from an agrarian or resource-based economy towards an industrial or service-based economy, transformation is important to ensure wealth creation through increased economic integration and productivity.”

The report sees agribusiness as having a huge potential in Africa and LDCs, however, stated that productivity is low and inefficient but that stronger links between farmers and agro-industry and tighter clusters of small producers can enhance supply-chain efficiencies, improve access to local and global markets and increase real incomes of farmers, farm workers and their families.