Nigeria

An overall trend towards economic growth in Nigeria masks the fact that millions have been forced into low-wage jobs in the once industrial north, trade experts warn. The decline is blamed in part on structural adjustment programs in the 1980s which involved the devaluation of the local currency and weakened factories’ ability to buy raw materials and machinery. The country’s shoddy power network compounded problems. More recently an influx of cheaply, more efficiently produced goods from Asia has left many factories untenable. (IRIN)