Economy

Nigeria’s Economic Growth “Jobless Growth”—LCCI

Published

7 years ago

16/02/2019

Modupe Gbadeyanka

**Says GDP Still Below 3% Population Growth

By Modupe Gbadeyanka

The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) has described the growth path of the Nigerian economy as still weak, vulnerable and fragile.

This was made known in reaction to the release of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) figures of the Africa’s largest economy for the fourth quarter of 2018 by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) earlier this week.

The stats office said in Q4 of last year, the nation’s economy grew by 2.4 percent in contrast to the 1.8 percent recorded in the third quarter of the year.

According to the LCCI, this growth mirrored the performance of the non-oil sector which improved by 2.7 percent year-on-year, with the full year GDP improving by 1.9 percent better than the 0.8 percent growth achieved in 2017.

For the LCCI, this performance is still weak and fragile because it is far below 3 percent annual population growth, emphasising that this remains a cause for concern due to its wider on inclusive and sustainable growth in the country.

Taking a look at the sectoral contribution to overall GDP in 2018, crop production, trade and telecoms were the major contributors.

Agriculture expanded by 2.1 percent in 2018, recording the lowest growth since 1993, with crop production emerging as the major driver of this sector performance, accounting for 88 percent of agricultural output in 2018. In terms of contribution, agriculture accounted for 25 percent of real output in the year.

Also, the Crude, Petroleum & Natural Gas sector contributed 8.60 percent to the GDP last with average daily oil production at 1.91 million barrel per day in fourth quarter 2018. This was lower than the 1.95 MBPD recorded in same quarter 2017. The oil sector grew by 1.1 percent as against 4.69 percent recorded in 2017.

In the GDP numbers, the manufacturing sector recorded an annual growth rate of 2.09 percent in 2018, marking a significant improvement of -0.21 percent in the previous year, contributing about 9.20 percent to overall GDP.

Furthermore, trade sector contracted by -0.63 percent in 2018 from -1.05 percent and -0.24 percent in 2016, contributing 17.16 percent in 2018. The declining performance of this sector signifies that Nigerian consumers are still under severe pressure in terms of weak purchasing power, as trade is a major consumer facing sector.

However, Telecommunication and Information services sector grew by 11.33 percent in 2018 from -2.04 percent in 2017 and 2.03 percent in 2016, contributing about 10 percent to overall GDP.

In its notes, LCCI said the growth was far below the country’s population growth of 3.0 percent, with wider implications for poverty, inclusive and sustainable growth.

It pointed out that sectors such as Trade, Manufacturing and Agriculture recorded low performance, signifying weakness on the part of the consumers purchasing power.

“The growth in the economy is also tagged a ‘Jobless growth’ as unemployment keeps on rising. The latest report by poverty world clock also suggests that the number of extremely poor Nigerians has risen to 91.6 million.

“We suggest that policies and reforms that will attract investment into the key employment elastic sectors should be implemented,” the LCCI said.

Economy

MRS Oil, Two Others Raise NASD Bourse Higher by 0.52%

Published

2 hours ago

24/12/2025

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

Demand for hot stocks, including MRS Oil Plc, buoyed the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange by 0.52 per cent on Tuesday, December 23.

The energy company was one of the three price gainers for the session as it chalked up N19.69 to sell at N216.59 per share versus the previous day’s value of N196.90 per share.

Further, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc gained N2.95 to close at N56.75 per unit versus N53.80 per unit and Golden Capital Plc appreciated by 84 Kobo to N9.29 per share from Monday’s N8.45 per share.

Consequently, the market capitalisation went up by N10.95 billion to N2.125 trillion from N2.125 trillion and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) rose by 18.31 points to 3,570.37 points from 3,552.06 points.

Yesterday, the NASD bourse recorded a price loser, the Central Securities Clearing System Plc (CSCS), which gave up 17 Kobo to close at N33.70 per unit against the previous trading value of N33.87 per unit.

The volume of securities traded at the session went down by 97.6 per cent to 297,902 units from the previous day’s 12.6 million units, the value of securities decreased by 98.5 per cent to N10.5 million from N713.6 million, and the number of deals remained flat at 32 deals.

By value, Infrastructure Credit Guarantee Company (InfraCredit) Plc ended as the most actively traded stock on a year-to-date basis with 5.8 billion units exchanged for N16.4 billion. This was followed by Okitipupa Plc, which traded 178.9 million units valued at N9.5 billion, and MRS Oil Plc with 36.1 million units worth N4.9 billion.

In terms of volume, also on a year-to-date basis, InfraCredit Plc led the chart with a turnover of 5.8 billion units traded for N16.4 billion. Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc ranked second with 1.2 billion units sold for N420.7 million, while Impresit Bakolori Plc followed with the sale of 536.9 million units valued at N524.9 million.

Economy

NGX All-Share Index Soars to 153,354.13 points

Published

2 hours ago

24/12/2025

Dipo Olowookere

By Dipo Olowookere

It was another bullish trading session for the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited as it closed higher by 0.59 per cent on Tuesday.

The market further rallied due to continued interest in large and mid-cap stocks on the exchange by investors rebalancing their portfolios for the year-end.

Yesterday, Aluminium Extrusion sustained its upward trajectory after it further appreciated by 9.96 per cent to N14.90, as Austin Laz gained 9.81 per cent to close at N2.91, Custodian Investment improved by 9.69 per cent to N38.50, and First Holdco soared by 9.35 per cent to N50.30.

Conversely, Royal Exchange declined by 7.22 per cent to N1.80, Champion Breweries shrank by 6.57 per cent to N15.65, NASCON lost 5.36 per cent to trade at N105.05, Sovereign Trust Insurance depreciated by 5.28 per cent to N3.77, and Japaul went down by 4.51 per cent to N2.33.

At the close of business, 29 shares ended on the gainers’ table and 27 shares finished on the losers’ log, representing a positive market breadth index and bullish investor sentiment.

This raised the All-Share Index (ASI) by 895.06 points to 153,354.13 points from 152,459.07 points and lifted the market capitalisation by N579 billion to N97.772 trillion from the previous day’s N97.193 trillion.

VFD Group finished the day as the busiest stock after it recorded a turnover of 192.0 million units worth N2.1 billion, GTCO exchanged 63.5 million units valued at N5.6 billion, Access Holdings traded 49.8 million units for N1.0 billion, First Holdco sold 45.8 million units valued at N2.3 billion, and Secure Electronic Technology transacted 38.3 million units worth N28.4 million.

In all, market participants bought and sold 677.4 million units valued at N20.8 billion in 27,589 deals compared with the 451.5 million units worth N13.0 billion traded in 33,327 deals on Monday, showing an improvement in the trading volume and value by 50.03 per cent and 60.00 per cent apiece, and a shortfall in the number of deals by 17.22 per cent.

Economy

Naira Firms up to N1,449 Per Dollar at Official Market

Published

2 hours ago

24/12/2025

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Naira rallied against the United States Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Tuesday, December 23 by N6.57 or 0.45 per cent to N1,449.99/$1 from the previous day’s N1,456.56/$1.

The domestic currency also improved its value against the Pound Sterling in the official market during the session by N1.30 to sell for N1,956.03/£1 compared with the preceding session’s N1,957.33/£1 and gained N2.94 on the Euro to close at N1,707.65/€1, in contrast to the previous session’s closing price of N1,710.59/€1.

In the same vein, the Nigerian Naira appreciated against the US Dollar by N5 at the GTBank FX counter to sell for N1,465/$1 versus the previous day’s N1,470/$1 but remained unchanged at N1,485/$1 in the black market window.

Sentiment in the FX market continued to improve with market operators attributing the appreciation to increased supply in the official market, supported by sustained interventions from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the impact of recent reforms.

Improved liquidity from exporters and foreign portfolio investors has also contributed to easing pressure on the local currency, helping to stabilise trading conditions during the festivities.

Analysts noted that the Naira’s performance has helped narrow the spread between the official and parallel market rates, a development seen as supportive of investor confidence and business planning. This relative stability has reduced short-term volatility risks and encouraged more orderly price discovery in the FX market.

Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market was down yesterday as analysts suggest tax-loss harvesting and low liquidity are contributing to the action in crypto as the year ends. That means investors selling their underwater positions to realize losses, lowering their tax liabilities.

Some analysts remain cautiously optimistic about a potential rally, though significant recovery is not expected until liquidity returns in January.

Dogecoin (DOGE) crumbled by 3.1 per cent to $0.1281, Solana (SOL) slumped by 2.9 per cent to $121.92, Cardano (ADA) fell by 2.7 per cent to $0.3582, Ethereum (ETH) slid by 2.2 per cent to $2,926.25, and Ripple (XRP) depreciated by 2.1 per cent to $1.85.

Further, Binance Coin (BNB) lost 2.0 per cent to sell for $838.21, Bitcoin (BTC) declined by 1.4 per cent to $86,933.97, and Litecoin (LTC) went down by 0.2 per cent to $76.33, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) traded at $1.00 apiece.