As Nigeria’s non-oil sector continues to drive economic growth, the largest economy in Africa is expected to expand by 2.79 percent in the full year ended 2021, according to estimates by a West African financial advisory firm, Afrinvest.
That would be a growth increase of almost 5 percentage points from the country’s -1.79 percent GDP growth in 2020 when the impact of COVID-19 lockdown affected economic performance.
“We expect that GDP growth will end the year by 2.79 percent” and growth performance is projected to be “linked to the non-oil sector thanks to the telecommunications, transport, and the financial services sector,” analysts at Afrinvest said on Tuesday during a 2022 investment strategy outlook webinar.
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For Africa’s biggest oil producer to attain the 2.79 percent GDP forecast by Afrinvest for 2021, it would need to grow by at least 1.59 percent in the fourth quarter of 2021. Nigeria reported a GDP growth of 0.51 percent in the first quarter of this year, 5.01 percent, and 4.03 percent in the second and third quarters, respectively.
If the projection is achieved, Nigeria’s GDP growth would have exceeded population for the first time since 2016, excluding the pandemic base effect growth-induced in 2021.
