The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) report released on Monday by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has left some analysts concerned about some sectors, especially the agriculture and manufacturing sectors.
The report for Q2 2018 showed that GDP slowed, growing by 1.50% in the second quarter as against the 1.95% growth in the first quarter of 2018.
Chief Executive Officer Of Cowry Asset Management, Mr Johnson Chukwu, told Channels Television’s on Channels Television programme, Business Morning said although the GDP Q2 report shows positive growth, the key sectors, however, did not perform positively.
“Although the GDP grew positively by 1.95%, the sectors that should propel job creation and economic positive are not in the positive directory,” Chief Executive Officer of Cowry Asset Management, Mr Johnson Chukwu, said on Monday in an interview on Channels Television’s on Business Morning.
“Manufacturing sector compared to the first quarter had a major contraction in terms of growth rate,” he said.
Chukwu explained that although the agriculture sector is growing in Nigeria, it is also doing so at a much slower pace. The economist blamed this on the crisis in north-central Nigeria.
He said, “(The) Agricultural sector grew by only 1.19% in the second quarter. I have also said the impact of the crisis in the Northcentral will reflect on the GDP growth status. The Manufacturing sector accounts for 9.28 in the GDP. So these key sectors are not growing.”
Another analyst, Mr Rotimi Fakayejo said the figures from the report are not unexpected but show hope ahead, but, like Chukwu, he flagged the performance of the agriculture sector.
He also expects investors to be concerned about the performance, noting, however, that not many companies in the sector are listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange.
“I believe investors may not be able to miss out on the grey points of their investment in terms of what kind of returns they are going to get,” he said.
“So, I believe strongly that with the way it is now, the agricultural sector will draw the ire of investors and that is going to be a major focus.”
The GDP report released on Monday showed that the Agriculture sector – Crop Production, Livestock, Forestry and Fishing – contributed 18.78% to nominal GDP but the growth in the second quarter was lower than the rate recorded for the second quarter of 2017 (19.28%).
