improving governability, the openness of government
financial operation, poverty alleviation, and human rights.
Nicaragua met the conditions for additional debt service relief in
December 2000. Growth should remain moderate to high in 2001.

Niger:
Niger is a poor, landlocked Sub-Saharan nation, whose economy
centers on subsistence agriculture, animal husbandry, reexport
trade, and increasingly less on uranium, because of declining world
demand. The 50% devaluation of the West African franc in January
1994 boosted exports of livestock, cowpeas, onions, and the products
of Niger's small cotton industry. The government relies on bilateral
and multilateral aid - which was suspended following the April 1999
coup d'etat - for operating expenses and public investment. In 2000,
the World Bank approved a structural adjustment loan of $35 million
to help support fiscal reforms. However, reforms could prove
difficult given the government's bleak financial situation.

Nigeria:
The oil-rich Nigerian economy, long hobbled by political
instability, corruption, and poor macroeconomic management, is
undergoing substantial economic reform under the new civilian
administration. Nigeria's former military rulers failed to diversify
the economy away from overdependence on the capital-intensive oil
sector, which provides 20% of GDP, 95% of foreign exchange earnings,
and about 65% of budgetary revenues. The largely subsistence
agricultural sector has failed to keep up with rapid population
growth, and Nigeria, once a large net exporter of food, now must
import food. Following the signing of an IMF stand-by agreement in
August 2000, Nigeria received a debt-restructuring deal from the
Paris Club and a $1 billion loan from the IMF, both contingent on
economic reforms. Increases in foreign investment and oil production
combined with high world oil prices should push growth over 4% in
2001-02.

Niue:
Government expenditures regularly exceed revenues, and the
shortfall is made up by critically needed grants from New Zealand
that are used to pay wages to public employees. Niue has cut
government expenditures by reducing the public service by almost
half. The agricultural sector consists mainly of subsistence
gardening, although some cash crops are grown for export. Industry
consists primarily of small factories to process passion fruit, lime
oil, honey, and coconut cream