In this entry we study Nigeria federal government public spending through the lens of aggregate cross-country data on government expenditures of African countries showing how Nigeria government spending per citizen compares with spending those of other African countries.
While we are fond of saying Nigeria is the giant of Africa, this data paints a contrary picture. While the Nigeria 2017 budget of 7.298 trillion Naira appears huge, converted into dollar, it is 22.15 billion dollar. This is pathetically low when put in context of Nigeria’s 180 million population. Angola, another African oil producing nation of 29 million people had a budget of 44.64 dollars- more than double of that of Nigeria.
Looking at Budget per person, Nigeria financial state is even more pitiful. At $122, Nigeria budget per head is one of the lowest in Africa, better only than those of countries like Somalia, Congo and Chad
