By Abbati Bako,psc,bsis,UK foreign policy analyst
The D8 economic development nations consist of Iran, Egypt, Malaysia, Turkey, Nigeria, Indonesia, Pakistan and Bangladesh all of them from the global Southern part of the world. The essence of the establishment of the block is for those nations to strengthen their economy and have a say in the global political, economic and social sphere. As a block the world nations will listen to them more.
The D8 economic block, also known as the Developing-8 Organization for Economic Cooperation, was established in 1997. The idea of cooperation among major Muslim developing countries was first initiated by Prof. Dr. Necmettin Erbakan, the then Prime Minister of the Republic of Turkey, during a Seminar on “Cooperation in Development” held in Istanbul in October 1996. The current meeting is held in Egypt and the Nigerian Minister of Foreign Affairs Mr. Yusuf Tuggar is representing the country in Egypt with a view to solidify the D-8 organization.
The D-8 Organization aims to improve the member states’ position in the global economy, political power, diversify and create new opportunities in trade relations, enhance participation in decision-making at the international level, and improve standards of living in their countries.
As mentioned above the organization has eight member countries, namely Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Turkey, with a combined population of over 1.2 billion people, which is about 60% of all Muslims or close to 13% of the world’s population. These countries have many resources like oil and gas in Indonesia, Nigeria and Iran. Pakistan is a nuclear power nation, Malaysia is second to America in ICT in the world. Also, Egypt is number one in the world in terms of tourism and it is home of medical tourism as well as Turkey is among the top 20 economic nations in the world.
As an economic block and in terms of global economic standing, the D8 Organization has a significant presence, with the total nominal GDP of the eight nations standing at around $4.92 trillion as of 2023. Trade between the D8 member states has also been increasing, with transactions accounting for 3.3% of world trade in 2010. This indicated that the government of Bola Tunubu seems to have become an economic player rather than a spectator.
It’s advisable for the current government in Nigeria to push more in global political, economic and social interplay in the world. Silence is a sign of weakness in political, economic and social activities in the world.
Conclusively, the Nigerian nation should try to be a full member of BRICS nations with a view to enhance the economy of the Nigerian nation as it seems that the global economic interplay may take direction in the near future. Also, the exit of 3 members of ECOWAS; Niger, B/Faso and Mali should be solved via diplomatic means. That will benefit Nigeria’s political, economic and social sphere in the eyes of the world and in Africa. Still Nigeria is the giant of Africa and the largest economy worth about $511B in GDP despite the huge debts in foreign and domestically.
Nigeria is still the most populous nation in Africa and number six in global ranking in population, despite the economic precarity, inflation, security challenges, food security and stagflation. Debts are not a hindrance in the capitalist market system. The largest and strongest economy in the world is the United States of America having “26% of global GDP” (The Next 100 Years: George Friedman 2009) but with about $35T worth of debts (USA is the largest debtor in the world). Nigeria is not alone in borrowing, Saudi Arabia 270$ debts, UK £3B worth of debts. Almost all the nations of the world are in debt. That’s capitalism for you.
Abbati Bako,psc,bsis,political strategy and communication consultant and a student’s mentor @Universty of Kent,UK and Treasurer @Kano Chamber of Commerce. Researcher in Global Political Economy @Skyline University Kano, Nigeria
Gsm:+2349077889959
email:abbatibako@gmail.com
