Data collected by the National Bureau of Statistics’ (NBS) reports reveal that the Information, Communication and Technology (ICT) sector contributed ₦8.13 trillion to real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the nine months to September 2021.
According to NBS, ICT is composed of the four activities of telecommunications and information services; publishing; motion picture, sound recording and music production; and broadcasting.
In Q1, the country’s real GDP was ₦16.83 trillion, with the ICT sector recording a growth rate of 6.47 per cent in real terms, Year on Year (YoY), and contributing 14.91 per cent to real GDP.
The real GDP dropped to ₦16.69 trillion in Q2, with the ICT sector recording a growth rate of 5.55 per cent in real terms and contributing 17.92 per cent to real GDP.
In Q3, the ICT recorded a growth rate of 9.66 per cent in real terms, year on year, and contributed 14.20 per cent to the real GDP (₦18.54 trillion).
The sector’s contribution ₦2.63 trillion to nominal GDP in Q3, compared to ₦2.99 trillion in Q2 and ₦2.51 trillion in Q1. It contributed a total of ₦12.9 trillion in the nine-month period.
In Q1, the total nominal GDP was ₦40.01 trillion and the ICT sector contributed 9.91 per cent (₦3.97 trillion).
The total nominal GDP and the sector’s contribution rose to ₦39.12 trillion and 12.22 per cent (₦4.78 trillion) respectively in Q2. The total nominal GDP increased further to ₦45.11trillion in Q3 but the sector’s contribution fell to 9.22 per cent (₦4.16 trillon).
What happened?
Experts believe that weakened purchasing power as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the slow pace of the National Identity Number-Subscriber Identity Module data verification, and a telecommunication blackout in certain states of the federation might be responsible for the slow growth in the sector.
Dr Olalekan Aworinde, a senior lecturer and economist at the Pan Atlantic University, said, “Nominal GDP is the market value of goods and services produced at a particular period. Real GDP is when you have the nominal GDP, and inflation factored in. It is the nominal GDP indexed with inflation.
“It factors in increases in the prices of goods and services within a time period. The real GDP is the true reflection of the economical status of the country.”
Olusola Teniola, the Nigeria National Coordinator for the Alliance for Affordable Internet, said consumer spending in the country had been weakened by the pandemic. “It is apparent that consumer spending has weakened post-COVID-19, so growth is happening at a slow pace.”
 in the nine months to September 2021.){kind=link}