Fuel shortages dog Africa's biggest oil producer

[unhappycamper]

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/AF_NIGERIA_FUEL_SHORTAGE?SITE=VANOV&SECTION=BUSINESS&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

Fuel shortages dog Africa's biggest oil producer
By MICHELLE FAUL
Associated Press

LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) -- The man in the large SUV forces his way to the front of the line at the gas station, ignoring the blaring horns and threats of fisticuffs from drivers who have slept in their cars and waited for more than 12 hours for the scarce fuel.

Raw anger and frayed tempers give way to resignation as the big man wins, waved in by fuel attendants, no doubt expecting a bribe.

Nigeria, despite being Africa's biggest petroleum producer, has been dogged by a fuel shortage for weeks.

In this West African nation that does not only mean scarce gas to keep cars on the road. It means no diesel to run generators that are the lifeblood of industry in a country where frequent power cuts last hours. It means no kerosene for stoves used to cook meals by tens of millions of poor people.

---

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/AF_NIGERIA_AFRICAS_BIGGEST_ECONOMY?SITE=VANOV&SECTION=BUSINESS&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

Nigeria set to become Africa's biggest economy
By MICHELLE FAUL
Associated Press
Apr 6, 8:23 AM EDT

LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) -- Nigeria is set to overtake South Africa as the biggest economy in Africa with a long-overdue recount of its GDP that will give it continental bragging rights but do little for its 112 million people scrabbling to survive in desperate poverty.

That's cause for reflection in longtime rival South Africa, the only African member of the G20 on the strength of its position as the continent's economic powerhouse.

Nigerian Finance Minister Ngozi Ikonjo-Iweala is to announce new GDP figures Sunday to include previously uncounted industries like telecommunications, information technology, music, airlines, burgeoning online retail outlets and Nollywood film production that didn't exist when the last GDP count was made in 1990. Then, there were 300,000 landlines. Today, Nigeria has 100 million cell phone users.

The new figures also will take account of growth in agriculture and tourism that have flourished since democracy was restored in 1999, ending decades of military dictatorship.