The Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprises (CPPE) has argued that the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics (NBS) under-reported the contribution of Nigeria’s Maritime sector to the aggregate growth of the country’s economy.
CCPE expressed this position in its comment on Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product Report’ for Q2 2022 recently released by the NBS in which the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) advanced by 3.54%, equivalent to N45.5 trillion in the quarter.
While noting that the maritime sector holds a strategic position in the economy for import and export trade, the Centre contended that the estimated N2.4 billion contribution of the sector to the aggregate growth is too paltry.
What the Centre is saying:
- The maritime sector of the economy is a very important sector in the international trade process, playing a very critical role in our import and export trade.
- It generates appreciable revenue and creates a lot of jobs. It is very critical to the supply chain of the Nigerian economy.
- 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 N2.4 billion to the GDP out of N45.5 trillion GDP for the quarter.
- This is a contribution of a mere 0.01%. In the first quarter of 2022, the NBS recorded 0% contribution of the sector to GDP. In the GDP numbers, water transport is the only proxy closest to maritime. But maritime sector activities are beyond water transportation.
- We therefore appeal to the National Bureau of Statistics 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.
- 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.