GDP: Group Laments Under-reporting Of Maritime Sector

The Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise (CPPE), has called for proper capturing of the activities of the maritime sector and its contributions to the national economy.

Speaking on the 2022 second quarter (Q2) GDP numbers, the CEO of CPPE, Dr Muda Yusuf said, the 3.54 per cent GDP growth in the second quarter of 2022 marked the seventh consecutive quarterly GDP growth since the exit from recession in the fourth quarter of 2020.

He noted that, this report reflects the resilience of the Nigerian economy amid extreme macroeconomic challenges, galloping inflation, currency depreciation, foreign exchange illiquidity, high energy cost, heightened insecurity, weakening purchasing power, structural bottlenecks and trade facilitation issues.

He noted that, “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.”

According to Yusuf, there is evidently a gross under-reporting of the activities of the maritime sector by the National Bureau of Statistics(NBS).

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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 per cent. In the first quarter of 2022, the NBS recorded zero per cent 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,” he said.

He appealed to the NBS 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, saying, “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.”