What Are the Major Industries in Nigeria?
Nigeria is one of the leading countries in the production of petroleum products, but the country also has diversified its economy with industries in beverages, cement, cigarettes, food processing, textiles and detergents. Nigeria is also fast becoming one of the leading manufactures in cocoa, telecommunications and financing.
Nigeria has long been a prime manufacturer of oil, but the emphasis on this manufacturing sector has lead to certain issues. Oil theft has become a problem in the country, where armed gangs steal large quantities of manufactured oil on a regular basis. Because of this, many major oil companies have sold their wells and begun investing in offshore drilling sites. This has actually led to the rise of new, domestic energy producers, subsequently diversifying the petroleum market in Nigeria.
Cocoa has also become an important manufacturing industry in Nigeria, and the many jobs cocoa farming provides is helping to fix nationwide poverty and unemployment. As the government encourages farmers to continually expand their farmlands into the vast reaches of Nigeria’s extensive Savannah grassland, the cocoa industry has grown immensely. Other products, like coconuts, citrus and sugar cane, are also farmed in the country.
Telecommunications is another very relevant sector in Nigeria. The country has even developed its own space satellite. Interestingly, Nigeria is a country filled with under-exploited natural resources, like gold, tin, lead, limestone and coal.
