(a) Give four reasons why countries engage in world trade (b) How have these reasons affected the volume of trade between Nigeria and her neighbouring count...

(a) Four reasons why countries engage in world trade

• Uneven distribution of resources: No country has all it needs, so nations exchange what they have in surplus for what they lack.
• Differences in climate and relief: These allow different countries to produce different crops and goods, encouraging exchange (for example, temperate wheat for tropical cocoa).
• Differences in level of technology: Industrial nations sell manufactured goods to less-developed nations in exchange for raw materials.
• To earn foreign exchange: Countries export goods to earn money for development.
• Comparative cost advantage: Countries specialise in what they can produce most cheaply and import the rest.

(b) How these reasons have affected the volume of trade between Nigeria and her neighbours

• Nigeria and her neighbours (Niger, Chad, Benin, Cameroon) have similar climate and produce similar goods, so there is little to exchange, keeping the volume of trade low.
• All are developing economies exporting raw materials rather than manufactured goods, so they compete rather than complement one another.
• Where products differ (Nigerian manufactured/petroleum goods against livestock and grains from the Sahel neighbours), a modest but real cross-border trade exists.
• Weak transport links and different currencies further limit the volume of trade.

(c)(i) Two sea routes through which Nigeria trades

• The route across the Atlantic to Western Europe (via the Gulf of Guinea to ports in the United Kingdom and mainland Europe).
• The route across the Atlantic to North America (to the United States).

(ii) One export commodity through each route

• Route to Western Europe: crude petroleum (also cocoa).
• Route to North America: crude petroleum.