06 October 2012, Sweetcrude, LAGOS – THE World Bank has predicted a 41 lifespan for Nigeria’s oil resources, based on the nation’s current production rate.
The bank, which also said it expected about $31 billion in Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflows to Africa this year, maintained that given Nigeria’s current output level, it could keep supplying oil for the next 41 years.
Nigeria, which is Africa’s largest oil producer, now pumps about 2.6 million barrels of oil per day.
The World Bank also said in the latest edition of ‘Africa’s Pulse’, a bi- annual analysis of the issues shaping Africa’s economic prospects, that Angola, Africa’s second largest producer, had about 21 years remaining for its oil.
The predictions are, however, for existing oil discoveries and as the prediction does not make provision discoveries that could be made henceforth.
The multilateral institution also predicted a 4.8 per cent growth rate for sub-Saharan Africa in 2012, but cautioned countries to be frugal in spending their resources.
The bank, which had forecast a 4.9 per cent growth rate in 2011, said the region remained on track despite setbacks in the global economy.
According to the World Bank, growth in sub-Saharan Africa, apart from South Africa, was forecast to rise to six per cent.
The report noted that African exports had rebounded in the first quarter of 2012, at an annualised pace of 32 per cent, up from 11 per cent 2011.
It, however, noted that African countries were not immune to the recent cases of market volatility occasioned by crisis from the Euro area as well as growth slowdown that is occurring particularly in China, which had remained an important market for Africa’s mineral exporters.
World Bank Vice-President for Africa, Mukhtar Diop, said: “A third of African countries will grow at or above six per cent with some of the fastest growing ones buoyed by new mineral exports such as iron ore in Sierra Leone, uranium and oil in Niger, and by factors such as the return to peace in Cote d’Ivoire, as well as strong growth in countries such as Ethiopia.”
