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Economy

Nigeria’s GDP Slows to 3.10% in 2022 Despite 3.52% Growth in Q4

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0.51% GDP Growth

By Adedapo Adesanya

In 2022, the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Nigeria slowed to 3.10 per cent from 3.40 per cent recorded in the preceding year, 2021.

Data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Wednesday evening showed that this occurred amid a 3.52 per cent (year-on-year) growth in the economy in real terms in the fourth quarter of 2022.

Business Post reports that in the preceding quarter, Q3 of 2022, the country posted economic growth of 2.25 per cent, but when compared with the same quarter of 2021, it moderated from 3.98 per cent.

The performance of the GDP in the fourth quarter of 2022 was driven by the services sector, which recorded a growth of 5.69 per cent and contributed 56.27 per cent to the aggregate GDP.

Although the agriculture sector grew by 2.05 per cent in the reference period, its performance was significantly hampered by severe incidences of flood experienced across the country, accounting for lesser growth relative to the fourth quarter of 2021, which was 3.58 per cent.

Recall that Nigeria faced an unprecedented devastating flood disaster in the second half of the year, which saw 662 persons lose their lives, with 3,174 others suffering injuries and 2,430,445 individuals displaced, according to the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA).

Moreover, the industry sector was yet challenged in the period under review, recording -0.94 per cent growth and contributing less to the aggregate GDP relative to the third quarter of 2022 and the fourth quarter of 2021.

This means that the performance of the agriculture and industry sectors reduced in 2022 relative to 2021, while the performance of the services sector improved in 2022.

According to the report, in the quarter under review, aggregate GDP stood at N56.7 trillion in nominal terms.

This performance is higher when compared to the fourth quarter of 2021, which recorded aggregate GDP of N49.2 trillion, indicating a year-on-year nominal growth of 15.18 per cent.

The NBS noted that the nation in the fourth quarter of 2022 recorded an average daily oil production of 1.34 million barrels per day, lower than the daily average production of 1.50 million barrels per day recorded in the same quarter of 2021 by 0.16 million barrels per day and higher than the third quarter of 2022 production volume of 1.20 million barrels per day.

It said the real growth of the oil sector was –13.38 per cent (year-on-year) in Q4 2022, indicating a decrease of 5.33 per cent points relative to the rate recorded in the corresponding quarter of 2021.

It explained that growth increased by 9.29 per cent points when compared to Q3 2022, which was –22.67 per cent.

On a quarter-on-quarter basis, the oil sector recorded a growth rate of -14.93 per cent in Q4 2022.

“However, the annual growth rate of oil stood at -19.22 per cent compared to the -8.30 per cent recorded in 2021.

“The Oil sector contributed 4.34 per cent to the total real GDP in Q4 2022, down from the figures recorded in the corresponding period of 2021 and the preceding quarter, where it contributed 5.19 per cent and 5.66 per cent, respectively. The total annual contribution of oil to aggregate GDP in 2022 was 5.67 per cent,” the report said.

The non-oil sector grew by 4.44 per cent in real terms during the quarter, the NBS said, noting that this rate was lower by 0.29 per cent points compared to the rate recorded in the same quarter of 2021.

This sector was driven in the fourth quarter of 2022 mainly by information and communication (telecommunication), trade, agriculture (crop production), financial and insurance (financial institutions), manufacturing (food, beverage & tobacco), real estate and construction, accounting for positive GDP growth.

Adedapo Adesanya is a journalist, polymath, and connoisseur of everything art. When he is not writing, he has his nose buried in one of the many books or articles he has bookmarked or simply listening to good music with a bottle of beer or wine. He supports the greatest club in the world, Manchester United F.C.

Economy

FrieslandCampina, Two Others Erase N26bn from NASD OTC Bourse

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FrieslandCampina

By Adedapo Adesanya

Three stocks stretched the bearish run of the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange by 1.21 per cent on Friday, December 19, with the market capitalisation giving up N26.01 billion to close at N2.121 billion compared with the N2.147 trillion it ended a day earlier, and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) dropping 43.47 points to 3,546.41 points from 3,589.88 points.

The trio of FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc, and NASD Plc overpowered the gains printed by four other securities.

FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc lost N6.00 to sell at N54.00 per unit versus N60.00 per unit, NASD Plc shrank by N3.50 to N58.50 per share from N55.00 per share, and CSCS Plc depleted by N2.91 to N33.87 per unit from N36.78 per unit.

On the flip side, Air Liquide Plc gained N1.01 to close at N13.00 per share versus N11.99 per share, Golden Capital Plc appreciated by 70 Kobo to N7.68 per unit from N6.98 per unit, Geo-Fluids Plc added 39 Kobo to sell at N5.50 per share versus N5.11 per share, and IPWA Plc rose by 8 Kobo to 85 Kobo per unit from 77 Kobo per unit.

During the trading day, market participants traded 1.9 million securities versus the previous day’s 30.5 million securities showing a decline of 49.3 per cent. The value of trades went down by 64.3 per cent to N80.3 million from N225.1 million, but the number of deals jumped by 32.1 per cent to 37 deals from 28 deals.

Infrastructure Credit Guarantee Company (InfraCredit) Plc finished the session as the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis with 5.8 billion units valued at N16.4 billion, followed by Okitipupa Plc with 178.9 million units transacted for N9.5 billion, and MRS Oil Plc with 36.1 million units traded for N4.9 billion.

The most active stock by volume on a year-to-date basis was still InfraCredit Plc with 5.8 billion units worth N16.4 billion, trailed by Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc with 1.2 billion units sold for N420.7 million, and Impresit Bakolori Plc with 536.9 million units traded for N524.9 million.

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Economy

Naira Crashes to N1,464/$1 at Official Market, N1,485/$1 at Black Market

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Official FX Market

By Adedapo Adesanya

It was not a good day for the Nigerian Naira at the two major foreign exchange (FX) market on Friday as it suffered a heavy loss against the United States Dollar at the close of transactions.

In the black market segment, the Naira weakened against its American counterpart yesterday by N10 to quote at N1,485/$1, in contrast to the N1,475/$1 it was traded a day earlier, and at the GTBank forex counter, it depreciated by N2 to settle at N1,467/$1 versus Thursday’s closing price of N1,465/$1.

In the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) window, which is also the official market, the nation’s legal tender crashed against the greenback by N6.65 or 0.46 per cent to close at N1,464.49/$1 compared with the preceding session’s rate of N1,457.84/$1.

In the same vein, the local currency tumbled against the Euro in the spot market by N2.25 to sell for N1,714.63/€1 compared with the previous day’s N1,712.38/€1, but appreciated against the Pound Sterling by 73 Kobo to finish at N1,957.30/£1 compared with the N1,958.03/£1 it was traded in the preceding session.

The market continues to face seasonal pressure even as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is still conducting FX intervention sales, which have significantly reduced but not remove pressure from the Naira. Also, there seems to be reduced supply from exporters, foreign portfolio investors and non-bank corporate inflows.

President Bola Tinubu on Friday presented the government’s N58.47 trillion budget plan aimed at consolidating economic reforms and boosting growth.

The budget is based on a projected crude oil price of $64.85 a barrel and includes a target oil output of 1.84 million barrels a day. It also projects an exchange rate of N1,400 to the Dollar.

President Tinubu said inflation had plunged to an annual rate of 14.45 per cent in November from 24.23 per cent in March, while foreign reserves had surged to a seven-year high of $47 billion.

Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market was dominated by the bulls but it continues to face increased pressure after million in liquidations in previous session over accelerating declines, with Dogecoin (DOGE) recovering 4.2 per cent to trade at $0.1309.

Further, Ripple (XRP) appreciated by 3.9 per cent to $1.90, Cardano (ADA) rose by 3.5 per cent to $0.3728, Solana (SOL) jumped by 3.4 per cent to $126.23, Ethereum (ETH) climbed by 2.9 per cent to $2,982.42, Binance Coin (BNB) gained 2.0 per cent to sell for $853.06, Bitcoin (BTC) improved by 1.7 per cent to $88,281.21, and Litecoin (LTC) soared by 1.2 per cent to $76.50, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) traded flat at $1.00 each.

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Economy

Crude Oil Prices Climb as US Blocks Venezuelan Tankers

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crude oil prices

By Adedapo Adesanya

Crude oil prices edged up on possible disruptions from a US blockade of Venezuelan tankers as the market waits for news about a possible Russia-Ukraine peace deal.

Brent futures rose 65 cents or 1.1 per cent to $60.47 per barrel while the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures expanded by 51 cents or 0.9 per cent to $56.66 per barrel. Both Brent and WTI were down about 1 per cent this week after both crude benchmarks fell about 4 per cent last week.

US President Donald Trump said he was leaving the possibility of war with Venezuela on the table, noting that there would be additional seizures of oil tankers near Venezuelan waters after the US seized a sanctioned oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela last week.

The American President this week ordered a “blockade” of all sanctioned oil tankers entering and leaving Venezuela, in the US’ latest move to increase pressure on Nicolas Maduro’s government, targeting its main source of income. The pressure campaign on President Maduro has included a ramped-up military presence in the region and more than two dozen military strikes on vessels in the Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea near Venezuela, which have killed at least 90 people.

President Trump has also previously said that US land strikes on the South American country will soon start.

Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Friday said that the US is not concerned about an escalation with Russia when it comes to Venezuela, as the Trump administration builds up military forces in the Caribbean.

This development comes as President Trump seeks an end to the unending war between Ukraine and Russia that is heading towards its fourth year.

European Union leaders decided on Friday to borrow cash to loan 90 billion Euros to Ukraine to fund its defense against Russia for the next two years as Russian President Vladimir Putin offered no compromise on Friday on his terms for ending the war in Ukraine and accused the European Union of attempting “daylight robbery” of Russian assets.

Ukraine, meanwhile, struck a Russian “shadow fleet” oil tanker in the Mediterranean Sea with aerial drones for the first time.

Earlier this week, the US and Ukraine both signaled progress in negotiations about a peace agreement during talks in German capital city of Berlin. The US is now reportedly offering Ukraine security guarantees modeled on NATO’s Article 5 mutual defense pledge.

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