Buhari Bounce Becomes Bust as Nigeria Policies Irk Investors
- Growth rate set to slow to 16-year low of 3.3% as oil falls
- Naira policy is biggest concern, Citigroup analyst Howell says
Nigerian President Mohammadu Buhari.
Photographer: Pius Utomi Ekpei/AFP via Getty ImagesThis article is for subscribers only.
When Muhammadu Buhari clinched victory in Nigeria’s presidential elections in March, stocks soared as investors looked to the former military ruler to reverse decades of economic mismanagement and policy inertia. Now hopes have fizzled in his ability to turn around Africa’s largest economy and oil producer.
Money that flowed into stocks and bonds in the West African nation, which McKinsey & Co. says could become one of the world’s 20 biggest economies by 2030, is now fleeing as growth prospects diminish along with oil prices. While Buhari, 72, has prioritized stamping out the graft that has plagued Nigeria since independence from Britain in 1960, policy-making appears as uncertain and haphazard as ever.