Japa, Inflation and 6 Other Top Trends That Shook the Nigerian Economy in 2022
- This year, "Japa" became one of the most trending words on social media, due to mass immigration.
- Crude oil theft became most intense, the naira depreciated badly, crypto crashed yet again and the inflation rate continued to rise.
- These and more were the most trending economic issues in Nigeria in 2022.
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The year 2022 has been nothing but a rollercoaster for the Nigerian economy. While there have been a few remarkable achievements by the government of the day, the negatives far overshadow the positives.
From Japa to inflation, from crypto crash to naira redesign, Legit.ng brings you some of the most trending discussions surrounding Nigeria's economy in 2022.
Source: UGC
Japa
Source: Facebook
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The word "Japa" could be said to be one of the most trending on social media this year. Since the beginning of 2022, never has a week gone by without word trending on social media. The Yoruba word is now widely adopted when referring to one migrating from Nigeria to another part of the world, a trend that has become more prevalent in recent times, attributable to harsh economic realities.
While many have chosen the education and employment route to 'Japa', others chose more extremely dangerous expeditions, either crossing the deserts of northern Africa or attempting perilous trips through the Mediterranean Sea. The belief, therefore, is that immigrating to other parts of the world would afford them better education, better career opportunities, better-paying jobs, and of course, a safer and more secure future for their children. These benefits, they believe are quite elusive in Nigeria at the moment.
Inflation
This year, Nigeria's inflation rate continues to shift northward as it recently climbed for the tenth time in a row to 21.47% in November 2022. The continuous rise in inflation numbers is a majorly attributable factor which includes a rise in prices of food items as a result of supply disruptions, a rise in production cost and of course, import cost hikes as a result of the depreciation of the Nigerian naira.
Naira redesign
Source: UGC
On November 23, 2022, President Muhammadu Buhari and the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele unveiled the newly redesigned naira notes. According to the CBN, the notes were redesigned in order to curb money laundering and inflation in the economy. The new N200, N500 and N1000 notes were released into circulation on December 15, 2022, but the public is still having trouble getting enough of the notes from the banks.
Fuel scarcity
Source: UGC
In 2022, Nigerian motorists and commuters were constantly faced with the challenge of fuel scarcity. At the beginning of the year, the cause of the scarcity was attributed to the withdrawal of adulterated fuel, which led to the shutting down of filling stations and long queues at the few that were selling clean fuel. Another cause of the scarcity was the shortage of supply by marketers and the needless hoarding of the product by some filling stations.
Naira/dollar exchange rate
The pressure on the naira became most intense this year with the Nigerian currency declining to as much as N900 to a dollar at the black market. Apart from general inflation, another reason for the naira depreciation was the panic to meet the CBN's January 31 deadline for the deposit of old naira notes with commercial banks.
Crude oil theft
The issues of oil thefts, illegal bunkering and pipeline vandalism in Nigeria have been a menace with resultant revenue losses to the country. The illegal activities have also affected monthly revenue remittance to the federation account. The increasing and indiscriminate oil theft has prevented Nigeria from benefiting amid a sustained oil boom and is affecting the accretion of the country’s foreign reserves.
Aviation strike/diesel price hike
Source: Getty Images
Nigeria's aviation sector has been plagued by several issues since the beginning of the year. Asides from the threat to strike and actual strikes by several unions in the sector, there have also been threats by Airline Operators of Nigeria to shut down operations as a result of surging aviation fuel, also known as Jet A1 fuel. The price of aviation fuel has continued to rise causing airline operators, airline passengers and of course, the government serious headaches. The product which used to sell at N190 per litre rose to about N800 per litre in June this year.
Crypto crash
Source: Getty Images
Even though remains one of the countries in Africa where cryptocurrencies are most adopted, interest in the asset has however waned in 2022. The price of Bitcoin and other crypto assets has continued to decline, with the price of bitcoin floating around $16,000, 75% decline from its all-time high of $68,790. The bitcoin crash of 2022 is just the latest reminder of the risks associated with investing in cryptocurrency, given its extreme volatility.
List of Jobs in Nigeria Likely to Disappear As Technology Takes Over
As we move into more technological advancement in 2023, there are quite a number of jobs that will begin to disappear.
From construction to banking, from manufacturing to business, these threats cut across different sectors which will in turn lead to many people losing their jobs.
In an earlier published article, Legit.ng listed some of these jobs including printing press operators, bank tellers, bank cashiers, data entry clerks, and postal service clerks, amongst others
Source: Legit.ng
