Former LCCI Boss Attacks NBS, Claims Maritime Industry GDP Under-Reported

The Director-General of the Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprises, Muda Yusuf has claimed that the National Bureau of Statistics under reported the rate of economic activities that occured in the maritime sector.

He also argued that despite Nigeria exiting recession, many critical sectors have not escaped.

The Nigerian economy grew by 3.4 per cent in the first half of 2022, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.

The CPPE boss named the critical sectors experiencing recession to include crude oil and gas, oil refining; textiles; electricity, gas and steam engines.

Yusuf, the immediate past DG of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry said this in a reaction to Nigeria’s GDP report which was sent to THE WHISTLER.

In 2020, the Nigerian economy went into its second recession since 2016.

The economy slipped into recession in the third quarter of 2020 with a decline of 3.6 per cent, having contracted 6.1 per cent in the second quarter.

But the economy rebounded less than a year later with a GDP growth of 0.11 per cent in the fourth quarter.

Yusuf said, “Notwithstanding the fact that the Nigerian economy has been out of recession since the fourth quarter of 2020, the following sectors are still in recession: crude oil and gas, oil refining; textiles; electricity, gas and steam engines.

“Many businesses are struggling to cope with the numerous challenges and shocks to the economy. On the welfare front, the citizens are also experiencing serious economic hardship as a result of the galloping inflation and the impact on purchasing power.”

The Minister of State for Petroleum, Timipre Sylva, had said that 400,000 barrels of Nigerian oil is stolen daily.

The Group CEO of the NNPC, Mallam Mele Kyari estimated the loss at $1.9bn monthly.

The national grid has also collapsed more than six times in 2022, thereby worsening the electricity crisis.

Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) had instructed Distribution Companies to increase transmission and distribution to an average of 5,000MW of electricity daily from July 1, 2022.

But the Transmission Company of Nigeria and the 11 DisCos have struggled to transmit and distribute 4,000MW since the directive was issued.

“Address the challenges of the massive oil theft which is affecting the oil output. The safety of the oil facilities is also very paramount to reverse the under performance of the oil and gas sector. The implementation of the Petroleum industry Act would boost investment in the sector as well.

“The electricity sector reforms need a review to improve efficiency and productivity in the sector. The challenges in the electricity supply chain need to be urgently addressed – gas to power, transmission, distribution, energy pricing, metering, and the capacity of the distribution companies. All of these are needed to improve performance and attract more investment into the sector,” he added.

Yusuf lamented that the maritime sector which is a very important sector in the international trade process, playing a very critical role in import and export trade is far under-reported by the NBS.

He said, “There is evidently a gross under-reporting of the activities of the maritime sector by the National Bureau of Statistics. For instance, in the Q2 GDP report, the maritime sector [water transport] was said to have contributed a mere N2.4bn to the GDP out of N45.5trn GDP for the quarter.

“In the GDP numbers, water transport is the only proxy closest to maritime. But maritime sector activities are beyond water transportation.”

The CPPE DG called on the Bureau to engage with stakeholders in the maritime sector to ensure a proper capturing of the activities of the sector and the contributions of the sector to the national economy.

He added, “The GDP figures over the years have been grossly under-reporting the contribution of maritime to the national economy. This remedy on data quality is critical for planning and investment.”