Men warn the Nigerian government of GDP mistakes that were misinterpreted for real economic growth

The Nigerian producer association (MAN) has warned the federal government not to think of recurring Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for economic growth.

The Director General of Human, Segun Ajayi-Kadir, who spoke to journalists on Tuesday in Lagos, noted that re-released GDP might indicate that the Nigerian economy might be statistically greater, but it was not translated into more productivity.

Ripples Nigeria reported that Nigeria, in the “Rebasing of GDP,” reports released on July 21 by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) returned GDP from N80 Trillion to N372 trillion.

Rebasing GDP is the process of updating the basic year used to calculate Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to reflect changes in structure and economic composition.

This involves the use of a newer basic year to accurately reflect modern economic activities, consumption patterns, and sectoral contributions.

In the report, NBS noted that “Rebuilding estimates with the new year 2019 show that the nominal GDP for Nigeria is far greater than previously expected.

“In 2019, the nominal GDP that was rebuilt at the market price reached N205.09 trillion, N213.64 trillion in 2020, N243.30 trillion in 2021, N274.23 trillion in 2022, N314.02 trillion in 2023, and N372.82 trillion in 202.”.

However, regardless of rebasing, which increases Nigerian GDP from N80 trillion to N372 trillion, Nigeria remains the fourth largest economy in Africa behind South Africa, Egypt and Algeria.

However, Ajayi-Kadir warns that the rearranged GDP is driven by an increase in data from agriculture, services, and informal sector-it should be misinterpreted as concrete progress.

He urged the federal government to prioritize manufacturing and industrialization to reflect the actual economic situation and the benefits of the GDP that was justified by the country.

“Rebasing emphasized that the Nigerian economy may be statistically greater, but not more productive, or more industry,” he said.

“While Rebasing Exercise revealed a more diverse economy, it also explained the poor industrial performance, especially manufacturing, the sector that should be the backbone of Nigerian economic transformation.”

Ajayi-Kadir said that although there was a revision and above, Nigerian GDP growth remained weak, on average only 1.95 percent between 2020 and 2024.

He added that the burdened structure showed that the industrial part of GDP decreased from 27.65 percent in the 2010 base year to 21.08 percent under the new 2019 base year.

“This marks the structural change of production to low productivity service activities,” he added.

He said the government had to treat repeated GDP not as a sign of success, but as “strong call for structural industrial reform”.

“Nigeria must avoid reaching inclusive growth, building export capacity, and reducing dependence on primary commodities and informal activities,” he said.

The Director General asked policy makers to prioritize manufacturing in financing, infrastructure, and policy design.

“Without a strong industrial base, GDP expansion may only be an empty statistics,” he said.

“The revision of the Nigerian GDP to $ 243 billion can raise investor confidence and increase the macro economic economic ratio such as the debt to GDP ratio.

“However, trust in the economy is not only anchored in size, but on structural resilience, industrial capacity depth and productivity growth.”

He called for the implementation of industrial -centered initiatives, such as the working group of the industrial revolution, infrastructure improvement, and greater access to long -term finances to revitalize this sector.

“This is the only way for GDP growth to be translated into poverty reduction, job creation, and macroeconomic stability,” said the boss.

Babajide Okeowo