Glossary -- Nigeria

fiscal year (FY): An annual period established for accounting purposes. Through FY 1979-80 the Nigerian government's fiscal year ran from April 1 to the following March 31. The latter fiscal year was succeeded by a nine-month FY 1980 that ended December 31, 1980. From January 1, 1981, the fiscal year was made coterminous with the calendar year.
GDP (gross domestic product): A value measure of the flow of domestic goods and services produced by an economy over a period of time, such as a year. Only output values of goods for final consumption and for intermediate production are assumed to be included in final prices. GDP is sometimes aggregated and shown at market prices, meaning that indirect taxes and subsidies are included; when these have been eliminated, the result is GDP at factor cost. The word gross indicates that deductions for depreciation of physical assets have not been made.
GNP (gross national product): GDP (q.v.) plus the net income or loss stemming from transactions with foreign counties. GNP is the broadest measurement of the output of goods and services by an economy. It can be calculated at market prices, which include indirect taxes and subsidies. Because indirect taxes and subsidies are only transfer payments, GNP is often calculated at a factor cost, removing indirect taxes and subsidies.
International Monetary Fund (IMF): Established along with the World Bank (q.v.) in 1945, the IMF is a specialized agency affiliated with the United Nations and is responsible for stabilizing international exchange rates and payments. The main business of the IMF is the provision of loans to its members (including industrialized and developing countries) when they experience balance of payments difficulties. These loans frequently carry conditions that require substantial internal economic adjustments by the recipients, most of which are developing countries.
Lomé Convention: A series of agreements between the European Economic Community (EEC) and a group of African, Caribbean, and Pacific (ACP) states, mainly former Euopean colonies, that provide duty- free or preferential access to the EEC maket for almost all ACP exports. The Stabilization of Export Earnings (Stabex) scheme, a mechanism set up by the Lomé Convention; provides for compensation for ACP export lost thorugh fluctuations in the world prices of agricultural commodities. The Lomé Convention also provides for limited EEC development aid and investment funds to be disbursed to ACP recipients thourgh the European Development Fund and the European Investment Bank. The Lomé Convention is updated about every five years. Lomé I, took effect on April 1, 1976; Lomé II, on January 1, 1981; Lomé III, on March 1, 1985; and Lomé IV, on December 15, 1989.
middle belt: Traditionally an ethnic and political zone stretching from east to west across the central section of Nigeria and inhabited by many minor ethnic groups who had been unable to obtain significant political influence because of long-term dominance by the Hausa-Fulani and Kanuri emirates. As used by economists and geographers, the term does not always coincide with ethnic and political divisions but usually designates the area between the characteristic northern and southern economies; in this context the area extends roughly from 7^o30'N to 11^oN. Since the civil war of 1967-70 and the replacement of the former administrative regions by states, use of the term has diminished among Nigerians who wish to downplay the regional connotation formerly attached to it.
naira (N): Nigeria's basic currency unit. It is subdivided into 100 kobo (k). The naira was introduced on January 1, 1973, replacing the Nigerian pound (q.v.) at the rate of two naira for one pound. At that time N1 equaled US$1.52. The naira subsequently lost value against the dollar; average exchange rate in 1990: N8.04 per US$1.00.
Nigerian pound (N£): Basic currency unit until January 1, 1973, when it was replaced by the naira (q.v.). N£1 was valued at US$2.80 until December 1971; thereafter N£1 equaled US$3.04.
Paris Club: The informal name for a consortium of Western creditor countries that have made loans or have guaranteed export credits to developing nations and that meet in Paris to discuss borrowers' ability to repay debts. The organizaiton has no formal or institutional existence and no fixed membership. Its secretariat is run by the French treasury, and it has a close relationship with the World Bank (q.v.), the International Monetary Fund (q.v.), and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).
Sahel: A narrow band of land bordering the southern Sahara, stretching across Africa, and including northern Nigeria. It is characterized by an average annual rainfall of between 150 and 500 millimeters and is mainly suited to pastoralism.
Special Drawing Right(s): A monetary unit of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) (q.v.) based on a basket of international currencies consisting of the United States dollar, the German deutschmark, the Japanese yen, the British pound sterling, and the French franc.
Sudan: Geographical region (northern reaches now more commonly referred to as the Sahel) stretching across Africa from Cape Verde on the Atlantic Coast to the Red Sea between 8^o and 16^o north latitude, just south of the Sahara Desert, characterized by savanna and semiarid steppe. Term derived from Arabic bilad as sudan (literally "land of the blacks"). Not to be confused with Sudan, the country.
World Bank: Informal name used to designate a group of three affiliated international institutions: the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), the International Development Association (IDA), and the International Finance Corporation (IFC). The IBRD, established in 1945, has the primary purpose of providing loans to developing countries for productive projects. The IDA, a legally separate loan fund but administered by the staff of the IBRD, was set up in 1960 to furnish credits to the poorest developing countries on much easier terms than those of conventional IBRD loans. The IFC, founded in 1956, supplements the activities of the IBRD through loans and assistance specifically designed to encourage the growth of productive private enterprises in the less developed countries. The president and certain senior officers of the IBRD hold the same positions in the IFC. The three institutions are owned by the governments of the countries that subscribe their capital. To participate in the World Bank group, member states must first belong to the International Monetary Fund (IMF--q.v.).