Feb 14: One year to Nigerian general elections

The Nigerian general elections will hold exactly a year from today (Feb 14, 2015), and it is quite exciting that we are slowly moving towards that decisive day.

Some investors have been expressing some angst over the fallout from the elections which are expected to be the tightest race since the PDP came to power in 1999.

However whomever comes to power next year, the reform pace is surely set to continue.

The opposition APC does not have a radically different agenda from the ruling PDPs laizzes faire free markets capitalism. If anything some say the APCs win might actually accelerate free market reforms.

The party has done well in the few states it controls and it is mainly in Lagos, that it gets its credibility for turning around the city into the vibrant metropolis it is today.

Nigeria has had 15 years of un-interrupted democracy, since the military left power in 1999, after decades of mis-rule, and the generals are firmly under civilian control.

That is better than a lot of frontier and emerging markets such as (Thailand, Pakistan, Egypt, Colombia, Venezuela, Vietnam and so on).

Investors looking at the medium term - 3 to 5 years - may do well not to be spooked in the coming months as the election rhetoric ramps up.

If anything they should be more worried about who takes over from the incumbent Central Bank Governor in June, than in who takes over from the incumbent President, next year.