Expert Task NBS on Proper Capturing of Maritime Sector Contribution to GDP

Dike Onwuamaeze

A strong appeal has been made to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), to ensure a proper capturing of the activities and contributions of the maritime sector to Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

This appeal was made by an Economist and the Founding Chief Executive Officer of the Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise (CPPE), Dr. Muda Yusuf, who highlighted that a remedy on data quality of the GPD report on the maritime sector would be critical for planning and investment in Nigeria.

Yusuf, in his reaction to the Q2 2022 GDP report released by the NBS recently, noted that there is “Evidently a gross under-reporting of the activities of the maritime sector by the National Bureau of Statistics,” which reported that the sector posted 0.01 per cent and 0.0 per cent in the second and first quarters of 2022 respectively.

He said: “For instance, in the Q2 (2022) GDP report, the maritime sector (water transport) was said to have contributed a mere N2.4 billion to the GDP out of N45.5 trillion GDP for the quarter. This is a contribution of a mere 0.01 per cent.

“In the first quarter of 2022, the NBS recorded zero per cent contribution of the sector to GDP. In the GDP numbers, water transport is the only proxy closest to maritime. But maritime sector activities are beyond water transportation.

“We, therefore, appeal to the National Bureau of Statistics to engage with stakeholders in the maritime sector to ensure a proper capturing of the activities of the sector and the contributions of the sector to the national economy.

“The GDP figures over the years have been grossly under reporting the contribution of maritime sector to the national economy. This remedy on data quality is critical for planning and investment.”

Yusuf noted that the 3.54 per cent GDP growth in the second quarter of 2022 marked the seventh consecutive quarterly GDP growth since the country’s economy exited from recession in the fourth quarter of 2020.

But added that, “This report reflects the resilience of the Nigerian economy amid extreme macroeconomic challenges, galloping inflation, currency depreciation, foreign exchange illiquidity, high energy cost, heightened insecurity, weakening purchasing power, structural bottlenecks and trade facilitation issues.”

He also remarked that the crude oil and gas, oil refining, textiles, electricity, gas and steam engines sectors are still in recession, notwithstanding the fact that the Nigerian economy has been out of recession since the fourth quarter of 2020.

Many businesses, according to him, are also struggling to cope with the numerous challenges and shocks to the economy while the citizens are also experiencing serious economic hardship as a result of the galloping inflation and the impact on purchasing power.

He said: “The GDP report has further underlined the dominance of the non-oil sector which accounted for 93.67 per cent of the GDP while the oil sector accounted for 6.63 per cent. However, the oil sector continues to play a leading role in the generation of foreign exchange and a significant role in the generation of government revenue.

“This underscores the persistent productivity challenges, which has continued to characterize the non-oil sector of the economy. The non-oil contribution to our export earnings is still less than 5.0 per cent.”