Nigeria’s election campaign should be dominated by foreign policy proposals aimed at attracting at least $100bn annually in foreign direct investment 

Ayo Akinfe 

[1] We are once again having an election with no policies and nobody is saying anything 

[2] The African Development Bank once said Nigeria has an annual infrastructural deficit of $100bn. Were we serious about fixing our country, plugging this gap would have become a national obsession 

[3] Why have we not set ourselves the target of matching up with other developing nations at the very least is totally beyond me. In terms of literacy rates, kilometres of rail track, number of hospital beds, etc, we should make sure we never fall behind a certain group of countries 

[4] Nigeria is a member of a group known as Mint, made up of Mexico, Indonesia, Nigeria and Turkey. Economists once expected these to be the miracle growth economies of the 21st century 

[5] Nigeria is also one of seven countries that account for over 50% of the world’s population. The other six are China, India, USA, Indonesia, Brazil and Pakistan 

[6] Nigeria is a member of the D8 group of developing nations. Known as The D-8 Organisation for Economic Cooperation, its members are Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Turkey

[7] Nigeria is also a member of the E9 forum of nine countries, which was formed to achieve the goals of Unesco’s Education For All initiative. Other members are Bangladesh, Brazil, China, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Mexico, and Pakistan, again representing over half of the world's population and 70% of the world's illiterate adults

[8] E-9 countries have made significant socio-economic progress since the group was formed in 1993. Brazil, China, India, Indonesia and Mexico are members of G-20, Mexico is an OECD member, while China is now the second largest economy in the world. Brazil and India are also the top 10 economies, while Indonesia has also been growing fast

[9] In 1993, E-9 countries accounted for only 16.5% of world's nominal gross domestic product (GDP). Now, they represent almost 30% of world's nominal GDP

[10] Nigeria is also one of four countries with populations between 200m and 300m. The others are Brazil, Indonesia and Pakistan. Maybe we should start off by attracting foreign direct investment from Brazil and Indonesia.