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.
The report was submitted by the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) to the Group of 20(G20), Development Working Group (DWG).
The UNIDO’s report seeks to achieve a wide consensus on issues including promoting the implementation of UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
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.
In parts, the report notes: “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 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.
“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.
“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.
“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.”