Subsidies push Nigeria to the brink

Controversial payments have turned high oil prices into a curse

Nigeria’s status as a major oil producer means it should be enjoying a boom. Instead, 2022 has turned into a year of economic crisis. GDP growth is lagging the African average, inflation has soared to the highest level in 17 years and state-owned NNPC has not contributed a single naira to the government’s coffers. This paradoxical situation for a significant producer and exporter of oil stems from the fact that Nigeria has almost no domestic refining capacity. Imports of refined petroleum products are subsidised via NNPC—meaning consumers pay less than half the price they would be charged if subsidies were removed. The massive cost of subsidising fuel imports comes at a time when oil product