Bankers love a good acronym. Thirteen years ago, Jim O’Neill, former chief economist and head of asset management at Goldman Sachs, coined the term BRIC for four countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China) poised to join the G6 in the economic big time. South Africa, added later, made it BRICS. Then, 11 emerging countries, including Iran, South Korea and Pakistan, were singled out as the N11 (Next-11).

Now O’Neill is back, marking out four countries (Mexico, Indonesia, Nigeria and Turkey) from the N11 as ones to watch for huge economic growth.

‘If they get their act together, they’ve got the ability to get so much bigger,’ said O’Neill of the MINT countries, the subject of his upcoming BBC radio series, MINT: The Next Economic Giants (Radio 4, January 6 to 9 at 9am). ‘If not as big as the BRICs, then not that far off.’

Mexico, O’Neill argues, previously lost out to China on cheap exports and labour. But with wages increasing in China, Mexico can capitalise, especially with its proximity to the US.

‘It’s probably the most competitive OECD country at the moment,’ said O’Neill. ‘And these guys have a bunch of young reformers who make Maggie Thatcher look like a pussycat.’

Indonesia has a chance to boom, like Mexico, because of a large, willing workforce and a rapidly urbanising population, said O’Neill. ‘There are 240m of them in Indonesia, the third largest populated country in the world.’

Turkey, meanwhile, benefits from its geographical position between East and West and ‘because they know how to deal with us in the West, with the Middle East, with the Russians’.

But the most exciting MINT country, O’Neill suggests, is Nigeria. ‘The place is complete madness, of course, and one can’t be 100 per cent sure, given its challenges, that it will be one country in four years. But after India, it’s the best in the world in terms of useful population. By 2050, Nigeria will have more people than the United States. If you get those young people in productive jobs, that place will arguably be the most exciting country in the world in the next 30 years. Linked to that, there are so many creative entrepreneurs there and, interestingly, so many educated Nigerians returning from the US because they smell this opportunity to be the next big thing.’ Nigeria is also rich in resources, including oil.

But is the MINT prediction solid or just a random selection of countries which make up a clever acronym?

‘You could say the MINT countries are a bit predictable because the group weeds out the countries which are basket cases at the moment,’ said Felix Martin, author of Money: The Unauthorised Biography. ‘The problem is many of the countries that made the most convincing advances in economic development over the last century were anything but predictable. Real progress often started from crisis and in the most unexpected places. A good example is Korea. It was poorer than Ghana in 1960 and, no doubt, in 1960, Goldman Sachs would’ve said Ghana, rather than Korea, was the next big thing. But the devastation caused by the Korean War meant Korea modernised exceptionally quickly, whilst peaceful, promising Ghana went nowhere.

‘I’d diversify my bets across several countries currently in the midst of profound social change. For example, Egypt, Iran, Thailand and, with any luck, Ukraine. Not all these will prosper but the ones that do are likely to be on a genuinely fresh path.’

https://www.google.com/url?q=http://metro.co.uk/2014/01/02/licence-to-mint-money-the-countries-that-could-become-economic-superpowers-4240947/&sa=U&ei=jwHGUuqTG8TGswalDg&ved=0CAYQFjAA&client=internal-uds-cse&usg=AFQjCNGLUEGkfRtUi-57Y96CI8FqKp2ZoA

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I read news stories like the one above with mixed emotions: a feeling of elation mixed with exasperation and anger! If we can set do-or-die politicking aside for one moment and support the incumbent......with all of us pulling in the same direction, we could quite easily meet and surpass Jim O'Neils expectations. It's ok to criticise and be in the opposition, but criticism should be done constructively and without the abuse and disrespect normally aimed at Mr President from the usual quarters; the rest of the world notice these things and it diminishes us in their eyes!

But the most exciting MINT country, O’Neill suggests, is Nigeria. ‘The place is complete madness, of course, and one can’t be 100 per cent sure, given its challenges, that it will be one country in four years. But after India, it’s the best in the world in terms of useful population. By 2050, Nigeria will have more people than the United States. If you get those young people in productive jobs, that place will arguably be the most exciting country in the world in the next 30 years. Linked to that, there are so many creative entrepreneurs there and, interestingly, so many educated Nigerians returning from the US because they smell this opportunity to be the next big thing.’ Nigeria is also rich in resources, including oil.

If we are wise, we will stone all these politicians that are telling us to have no faith in the country. The opposition is taking thier negativity too far. Nigerians should be encouraged to create greatness out of their country and not the nonsense lies that the local press have choosen to feed the gullible with.

In all, its not politicians that will fix Nigeria. It is entrepreneurs.

I am counting on mint becoming true. The current leadership in the country really understands the big picture.

atlwireles: I am counting on mint becoming true. The current leadership in the country really understands the big picture.

^^^It can only happen if WE ALL take education seriously; if there's a healthy competition amongst the regions/states (like we had in the 60s); if the boko nonsense is eliminated; if we encourage small-scale industries; if power supply becomes constant/stable; and if we support farmers/agriculture (especially in the north)! All it needs to succeed is a presence of nationalistic fervour amongst all Nigerians, and a commonality of purpose!