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Showing posts with the label Poverty

Bangladesh – A journey from poverty to development

Equivalent to the combined population of the Netherlands, Germany and France, Bangladesh is home to 160 million people. Although it is ranked as one of the world’s poorest of the 10 most populous countries, its economy grew by 7.1 per cent in 2016, a 30 year record. The country is starting to attract the attention of global companies. Can Bangladesh make poverty history? The story so far Bangladesh’s recent economic upturn is attributed to two major factors: its robust NGO sector and its thriving garment manufacturing industry. Bangladesh exported over USD26 billion in clothing, second only to China. Bangladesh gained independence from Pakistan in 1971 after a devastating war. Just prior to the war, in 1970, a massive cyclone had hit the nation, killing thousands. Today Bangladesh’s GDP per person is USD1,538 in comparison to Pakistan’s at about USD1,470 in June 2016. Some analysts assess that Bangladesh has the potential to emerge as the 23rd largest economy in

Nigeria – West Africa’s rising investment hub

Nigeria’s economy was worth over USD400 billion in 2013 – ahead of South Africa’s GDP of USD355 billion . Nigeria is becoming Africa’s largest oil exporter. But amidst the opportunities, challenges remain – chiefly political instability, theft of natural resources and lack of infrastructure. Will Nigeria’s emergence as the latest frontier market be a smooth one? A growing economy Now being referred as one of the MINT frontier economies in the world (Mexico, Indonesia, Nigeria and Turkey), Nigeria is expected to emerge as an economic powerhouse of the future . It has a good track record over the past ten years, with 7.4% real GDP growth in 2013, up from 6.7% in 2012. Nigeria is Africa’s most populous country and the ninth most populous in the world. Nigeria is Africa’s most populous country and the ninth most populous in the world, with 173.6 million people in 2013. According to recent UN projections, Nigeria will become one of the most populous countries in the world