MANAGEMENT OF EXTERNAL ECONOMIC RELATIONS AND THE CRISIS OF DEVELOPMENT IN NIGERIA (Published)
The Post-cold War international regime has accentuated the convergence of sovereign states as a desideratum for their continued relevance within the locus of contemporary global political economy. Hence, the relative gains derived by a particular state are largely dependent on the structure, content and effective implementation of its economic diplomacy. Nigeria’s economic diplomacy is fundamentally aimed at the diversification of its economic base, expansion of its international market, attraction of foreign capital and the management of debt. Essentially, this paper examined how Nigeria’s economic diplomatic engagements had engendered or otherwise undermined its development imperatives. Using the qualitative descriptive method of data analysis, the paper implicated the management of Nigeria’s external economic relations on the prevailing crisis of development within the country. Consequently, it recommended the active involvement of relevant bodies especially the Federal Ministry of Trade, Industry and Investment, Ministry of National Planning, the National Planning Commission and the Debt Management Office in the formulation and implementation of appropriate domestic policies that would make both manufactured and semi-manufactured products more competitive in the global market; making the economy more attractive to local investors first as the most effective strategy for attracting foreign capital; and the efficient management of debt in order to ensure national development.
Keywords: Debt Management, External Economic Relations, Foreign Capital, Foreign Trade, National Development