Real sector key to Nigeria’s future, says Statistician General

Nigeria must show commitment to boosting real sector growth if it intends to maintain or surpass its current position as the largest economy in Africa and the 26th in the world, the Statistician General of the Federation, Yemi Kale, has said.

Mr. Kale was speaking in Kaduna on Wednesday while presenting a paper titled: “Rebasing of Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product, GDP: Issues, Facts and Fiction,” at the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN’s Seminar for Finance Correspondents and Business Editors.

Represented by his Special Assistant, Kayode Olaniyan, the National Bureau of Statistics, NBS, boss said other countries may overtake Nigeria if the country relaxes on its current rating in the global economic order.

He said the real sector of the economy must be provided the right policy backing and other enabling support for inclusive and sustained growth and development.

According to him, the rebasing of the GDP exercise shows that Nigeria is a service-driven nation, a trend, he pointed out, must be urgently addressed in order to create employment in the country.

Mr. Kale pointed out further that the government needs to concentrate more on labour-driven sectors, such as construction, agriculture, manufacturing, small and medium enterprises, amongst others, in the real sector if the economy was to witness sustained growth.

The Head of Research and Documentation, Financial Derivatives Company, FDC, Afolabi Olowookere, who spoke on “Gross Domestic Product, GDP, Rebasing and the Impact on Nigeria’s Investment Environment”, advised the government to focus its attention on one key issue.

This means paying close attention on boosting the nation’s Foreign Direct Investment, FDI, rather than Foreign Portfolio Investment, FPI, for economic growth in view of the former’s broader multiplier effects on any domestic economy.

Mr. Olowookere pointed out that currently there appeared to be an over-dependence on FPI by government, a development, he said, is not desirable for the economy in terms of job creation and inclusive growth.

He said that with FPI, investors are never fully committed to building capacities for real sector growth.

The portfolio investors, he said, could easily move out their ‘hot monies’ from the system particularly, from the capital market at any given time if there was any negative development.