Economy
Nigeria’s Economy Grew 3.46% in Q3 2024 With N20.1trn—CBN
By Adedapo Adesanya
Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), as computed by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), expanded by 3.4 per cent in the third quarter (Q3) of 2024, with output reaching N20.115 trillion, different from the 3.19 per cent growth quoted in Q2 2024 from an output of N18.285 trillion, according to the latest Economic Report for the third quarter of 2024 released by the apex bank.
The CBN said despite persisting headwinds, this growth was driven mainly by the non-oil sector.
The report said inflation moderated during the quarter, reflecting the fall in the food component of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) basket, and driven by the restrictive monetary policy stance.
Domestic crude oil production increased, following enhanced security measures around oil pipeline infrastructure in the Niger Delta region.
The growth of 3.46 per cent recorded in Q32024, represented the third consecutive expansion year-to-date surpassing the 3.19 per cent and 2.54 per cent recorded in Q2 2024 and the corresponding quarter of 2023, respectively.
“Growth was on account of continued efforts to improve the business environment, streamline cumbersome business processes and deepen the quality of business infrastructure,” the report seen by Business Post said.
The 24-month window period opened for the banking sector re-capitalisation (according to their license category and authorisation) supported the robust growth in the services sector, particularly, the finance and insurance sub-sector, the report explained.
The continued drive of the government to improve crude oil production to a target of 2 million barrels per day by year-end of 2024, helped the oil sector to maintain positive growth for the fourth consecutive quarter.
Thus, the oil sector grew by 5.17 per cent (year-on-year) in Q3 2024, compared with a growth of 10.15 per cent in the preceding quarter, and contributed 0.28 percentage points to the overall increase in the period under review.
The performance was slower than the preceding quarter, owing to a drop in prices of Nigeria’s Bonny Light crude in the international market, to $82.07 per barrel from $86.92 per barrel in Q22024.
However, with the increase in crude oil production from 1.27 million barrels per day in Q22024 to 1.33 million barrels per day in Q3 2024.
The non-oil sector growth accelerated to 3.37 per cent in Q32024 compared with a growth rate of 2.80 per cent in the preceding quarter, contributing 3.18 percentage points to total growth.
The expansion of the non-oil sector was driven by the performance of the financial & insurance, information & communication, crop production, trade, transportation & storage, and real estate sub-sectors.
Regarding sectoral performance, CBN said all the sectors, (agriculture, industry and services) grew in Q32024.
The Services sector expanded at the fastest pace by 5.19 per cent in Q32024, compared with 3.79 per cent in Q2 2024 and 3.99 per cent in Q32023, remaining the most dominant sector and accounting for 53.58 per cent of aggregate Gross Domestic Product.
Within the services sector, financial & insurance sub-sector grew by 30.83 per cent, compared with 28.79 and 28.21 per cent in the preceding and corresponding quarters of 2023, respectively. This performance was spurred by gains from the recapitalisation exercise that was announced by the CBN, according to the report.
Other factors such as profits from interest gains (following continued hikes in interest rates), consultancy fees, and ATM & transfer fees contributed to the growth of the sub-sector.
Also, given the financial sector’s ongoing digital transformation (including the significant growth of fintech companies, mobile banking, and digital payment systems), the information and communications subsector grew by 5.92 per cent (contributing 0.95 percentage points to GDP growth).
The performance of the ICT sub-sector was further boosted by the ongoing demand for digital services like e-commerce and data/internet services, which helped to grow economic activity in the other sub-sectors like trade and real estate 0.65 and 0.68 per cent, respectively.
The transport and storage sub-sector grew by 12.15 per cent, compared with contractions of 13.53 and 35.85 per cent in the preceding and corresponding quarters of 2023, respectively.
The growth was driven by the increase in road transport owing to improved security conditions and substitution from air transport (due to higher air fares). Also, sustained investments in road infrastructure, as well as investments in alternative sources of energy (CNG) for road transport contributed to the uptick in the sub-sector.
The agriculture sector grew modestly by 1.14 per cent, compared with 1.41 and 1.30 per cent in the preceding and corresponding quarters of 2023, respectively.
The growth was driven by the favourable weather conditions and increased harvests of some staples.
Crop production grew by 1.18 per cent, compared with1.65 per cent in Q22024, while the forestry and livestock sub-sectors grew by 2.23 and 1.03 per cent, respectively, compared with a growth of 2.77 per cent and a contraction of 1.71 per cent in Q22024.
By Dipo Olowookere
On the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited last week, investors transacted 3.648 billion shares worth N220.568 billion in 251,861 deals compared with the 3.821 billion shares valued at N154.393 billion traded in 258,567 deals a week earlier.
Analysis showed that financial stocks led the activity chart with 2.899 billion units sold for N147.360 billion in 106,603 deals, accounting for 79.48 per cent and 66.81 per cent of the total trading volume and value, respectively.
Services equities recorded a turnover of 164.914 million units valued at N3.615 billion in 16,375 deals, and the consumer goods shares exchanged 157.451 million units worth N7.777 billion in 27,950 deals.
First Holdco, Zenith Bank, and Fidelity Bank were the busiest stocks for the five-day trading week, trading 1.745 billion units valued at N121.828 billion in 31,053 deals, contributing 47.85 per cent and 55.23 per cent to the total trading volume and value, respectively.
Business Post reports that 60 equities appreciated during the week versus 22 equities in the previous week, 28 shares depreciated versus 57 shares of the preceding week, and 58 stocks closed flat versus 67 stocks of the previous week.
International Breweries gained 40.00 per cent to trade at N13.30, RT Briscoe expanded by 32.02 per cent to N13.40, Livestock Feeds improved by 28.47 per cent to N9.25, First Holdco chalked up 25.82 per cent to close at N69.20, and Abbey Bank rose by 23.65 per cent to N9.15.
On the flip side, McNichols lost 28.57 per cent to finish at N5.00, Thomas Wyatt gave up 11.64 per cent to quote at N2.43, Geregu Power declined by 10.00 per cent to N825.70, CAP shed 9.99 per cent to settle at N157.60, and Guinness Nigeria also slipped by 9.99 per cent to N329.00.
Customs Street was under buying pressure last week, making the All-Share Index (ASI) and the market capitalisation close higher by 6.35 per cent to 243,798.76 points and N156.445 trillion, respectively.
In the same vein, all other indices finished higher apart from the growth and sovereign bond indices, which depreciated by 7.43 per cent and 0.02 per cent, respectively.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange rose by 2.30 per cent, spurring the NASD Security Index (NSI) to close higher by 96.61 points to 4,296.34 points from 4,199.73 points, and raising the market capitalisation by N57.99 billion to N2.578 trillion from N2.521 trillion.
The market was up yesterday despite a lower activity level, as the volume of securities traded slumped by 94.7 per cent to 1.3 million units from the previous 23.9 million units. The value of securities slipped by 57.2 per cent to N29.2 million from the preceding session’s N68.2 million, while the number of deals executed by market participants increased by 6.7 per cent to 32 deals from the 30 deals carried out on Thursday.
At the close of transactions, Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc remained the most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with a turnover of 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, trailed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion units valued at N6.5 billion in trades, and Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc with 70.8 million units traded for N4.9 billion.
GNI Plc was also the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units sold for N8.4 billion, followed by Infracredit Plc with 2.3 billion units exchanged for N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units transacted for N415.7 million.
During the trading day, there were three price gainers and two price losers, led by Afriland Properties Plc, which shed N1.48 to sell at N15.17 per share compared with the previous session’s N16.65 per share, and Food Concepts Plc, which slid by 7 Kobo to close at N2.69 per unit versus N2.76 per unit.
Conversely, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc improved its value by N9.50 to trade at N150.00 per share compared with Thursday’s closing price of N140.50 per share, CSCS Plc went up by N7.95 to N89.65 per unit from N81.70 per unit, and 11 Plc soared by N6.94 to N206.95 per share from N200.01 per share.
By Dipo Olowookere
The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited lost its footing by 0.07 per cent on Friday as a result of renewed profit-taking by investors.
The fall happened after Thomas Wyatt and Guinness Nigeria led other price losers group comprising 27 stocks at the market yesterday due to selling pressure.
Thomas Wyatt Nigeria shed 10.00 per cent to quote at N2.70, Guinness Nigeria drowned by 9.99 per cent to close at N329.00, Ikeja Hotel slipped by 9.96 per cent to N42.50, Zichis shed 9.94 per cent to trade at N26.37, and McNichols depreciated by 9.91 per cent to N5.00.
On the flip side, International Breweries gained 9.92 per cent to finish at N13.30, NEM Insurance appreciated by 9.61 per cent to N27.95, Jaiz Bank grew by 6.36 per cent to N9.20, UPDC expanded by 6.33 per cent to N4.20, and Livestock Feeds increased by 6.32 per cent to N9.25.
Business Post reports that investor sentiment remained bullish despite the loss recorded during the session, as there were 27 price decliners and 30 price advancers, representing a positive market breadth index.
Yesterday, market participants transacted 441.3 million equities for N19.4 billion in 44,938 deals compared with the 1.7 billion equities worth N112.0 billion traded in 44,780 deals a day earlier. This showed that the trading volume contracted by 74.04 per cent, the trading value declined by 82.68 per cent, and an uptick in the number of deals by 0.35 per cent.
Access Holdings led the activity chart on Friday after selling 40.2 million shares valued at N1.0 billion, Sterling Holdco traded 30.3 million stocks worth N228.8 million, Fidelity Bank sold 26.3 million equities for N505.6 million, Zenith Bank transacted 22.3 million shares valued at N2.5 billion, and First Holdco exchanged 19.0 million stocks worth N1.3 billion.
During the last trading session of the week, the consumer goods sector rose by 0.49 per cent, the insurance counter increased by 0.06 per cent, and the industrial goods index closed flat, while the banking and energy indices lost 0.78 per cent and 0.52 per cent, respectively.
As a result, the All-Share Index (ASI) shrank by 159.97 points to 243,798.76 points from 243,958.73 points, and the market capitalisation moderated by N103 billion to N156.445 trillion from N156.548 trillion.
