Nexus between Oil Economy and Digital Economy: The Case Study of Nigeria

Abstract

In the wake of Nigeria’s independence and rise to economic stability, one of the most striving sources of income for the country has been the oil economy. With a maximum crude oil production capacity of 2.5 million barrels per day, Nigeria ranks as Africa’s largest producer of oil and the 6th largest oil producing country in the world. However, in the advent of the later years of the 21st century, the digital economy had an impressive growth and has been termed by many as “The New Oil”. The Digital Economy is based on digital computing technologies and is perceived as a means of conducting business through markets based on internet and the World Wide Web. The Nexus between the two economies can be perceived in light of Nigeria exploring ways to expand production to meet the growing demand as application of digitalisation and emerging new technologies will make way for expansion of production in the oil economy and also serve as a source of revenue generation for the digital economy. The research work depicts the relationship between the two economies, using Nigeria as a case study. Primary sources and Secondary sources such as textbooks, journals, articles and relevant internet materials are reliable source of materials in this work with the researcher employing the use of the exploratory method as it is recognised that the digital economy can complement the oil economy if its mechanism are put to good use which would in turn boost the overall growth of the economy of the country.