By Emmanuel Elebeke

The contribution of the Nigerian Information and Communication Technology sector to the Gross Domestic Product, GDP, in Q3, 2021, declined by 3.72 percent from 17.92 percent recorded in the preceding quarter.

In nominal terms, the aggregate GDP in the period under review stood at N45.11trillion.

This performance is higher when compared to third quarter 2020 which recorded N39.09 trillion, indicating a year-on-year nominal growth rate of 15.41 percent. 

Of the total real GDP, the sector contributed 14.20 percent in 2021 Q3, higher than in the same quarter of the previous year which was 13.47percent   and lower than the preceding quarter in when it recorded 17.92 percent.

The sector is composed of the four activities of Telecommunications and Information Services; Publishing; Motion Picture, Sound Recording and Music Production and Broadcasting.

According to the quarterly report released on its website, the National Bureau of Statistics, NBS, indicates that in nominal terms, in the third quarter of 2021, the sector growth was  11.17 percent (year-on-year), 4.74 percent points decrease from the  15.91 percent recorded in the same quarter of 2020, and 11.24 percent points higher than rate recorded in the preceding quarter.

The Quarter-on- Quarter growth rate recorded in quarter under review was 12.98 percent.

Also, the report says the Information and Communications sector contributed 9.22 percent to total Nominal GDP in the 2021 third quarter, lower than the 9.57 percent recorded in the same quarter of 2020 and lower than the 12.22 percent it contributed in the preceding quarter.

Meanwhile, the sector in the third quarter of 2021 recorded a growth rate of 9.66% in real terms, year on year.   From the rate recorded in the corresponding period of 2020, there was a decrease of 4.89% points.

Quarter on Quarter, the sector exhibited a growth of -11.99 percent in real terms.

Nominal Gross Domestic Product in the preceding quarter of Q2 2021 stood at N39.12 trillion. In terms of real GDP which shows volume of economic activities, third quarter 2021 recorded N18.54 trillion, higher by N718.57 billion than N17.82 trillion recorded in third quarter 2020. This shows output growth of 4.03% in third quarter of 2021.

Moreover, output of third quarter of 2021 was higher by N1.85 trillion compared to second quarter 2021 when aggregate real GDP was N16.69 trillion.

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The Statistician-General, Dr. Simon Harry, while unveiling the report, said improvement being seen in the output growth over the last four quarters depicts a steady progress made in stemming the COVID-19 pandemic and the associated negative impact on livelihood, well-being, and the economy.

According to him, the improvement recorded in the previous quarters depicts a steady progress made in stemming the COVID-19 pandemic and the associated negative impact on livelihood, well-being, and the economy, adding that economic recovery is a gradual process that requires consistent collective efforts to improve economic activities across the institutional sectors.

The Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr. Isa Pantami had in the second quarter of 2020 attributed the boost to ICT contribution to GDP to robust digital economy policy implementation.

Pantami, who expressed happiness over increasing contribution of ICT, to Nigeria’s GDP, described the increase as phenomenal and unprecedented.

Pantami, explained that the negative GDP figures recorded in 2020 as a result of the COVID 19 pandemic have had serious base effects on the GDP figures for Q2 and Q3 of 2021.

You will recall that the contraction of Q2 and Q3 of 2020 resulted to positive growth as recorded consecutively for the preceding   three quarters of Q4, 2020; Q1, 2021 and Q2, 2021 with 0.11%, 0.51%, Q2 and 5.01% respectively.

In the last Q 2020, the ICT sector of the Nigerian economy grew by 14.70 percent.

This makes the ICT sector the fastest growing sector of the Nigerian economy in the quarter and the only sector to have grown by double digits in the entire year 2020. The sector grew at a rate more than four times the Agriculture sector, which was the next fastest growing sector of Q4 2020, with a growth rate of 3.42percent.

The ICT sector also maintained its rapid growth rate in the overall year 2020 assessment, growing at 12.90 percent, overtimes the Water Supply, Sewerage, Waste Management and Remediation sector, which was the next fastest-growing sector of 2020 with a growth rate of 3.81percent. Again, the ICT sector was the only sector with a double-digit growth rate.

ICT’s contribution to GDP increased from 10percent in 2019 to 12 percent in 2020. Although, Q4 GDP growth was lower than Q2’s when there was a lockdown, it was much higher than pre-pandemic levels.

According to market analysts, the increase happened during lockdown because people relied more on digital platforms during the period.

Below is the ICT contribution to GDP in the last 11quarters.

Q1 2019   – 19.1%

Q2 2019 – 10.31%

Q3 2019 – 8.54   

Q4 2019 – 15%

Q1 2020 – 14%

Q2 2020 – 14.06%

Q3 2020 – 9.57%

Q4 2020 – 14.70%

Q1 2021 – 14.91%

Q2 2021 – 17.92%

Q3 2021 – 14.20%

Vanguard News Nigeria