Nigeria’s Economy Now Outpaces Population Growth—Sanusi

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Emir of Kano, Mr Muhammadu Sanusi II, has commended the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for its economic reforms, saying they have restored macroeconomic stability and driven economic growth beyond the country’s population growth rate.

Emir Sanusi, a former Governor of the central bank, made the remarks while speaking at the ongoing 31st Nigerian Economic Summit in Abuja.

According to the former banker, the apex bank inherited an economy weakened by years of excessive liquidity and rapid money supply growth but had succeeded in reversing the trend through tighter monetary policies.

“I have nothing but positive words for what the central bank has done. We are coming from the background of a very high level of instability as a result of loose money and uncontrolled growth in money supply.

“The central bank has taken one year to mop up all that money,” the monarch said, according to a video from the event that has circulated widely.

Speaking on the impact of the reforms, Mr Sanusi added: “This is the first time that this economy will be growing faster than the population.”

The remark suggests that the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth is expected to outpace its population growth rate of about 2.1–2.5 per cent annually, implying an increase in per capita income.

This means the economy is expanding fast enough to raise average output and income per person, rather than merely keeping pace with population increases.

The reforms introduced by the Yemi Cardoso-led CBN have centred on restoring macroeconomic stability and rebuilding investor confidence. Key measures include adopting a more market-driven foreign exchange regime, tightening monetary policy through successive interest rate hikes to curb inflation, and clearing a significant portion of the foreign exchange backlog owed to businesses and investors.

The apex bank has maintained that these policies are designed to stabilise the naira, improve liquidity in the FX market, attract foreign investment, and lay the foundation for sustainable economic growth.