Nigeria’s electricity sector records highest growth – NBS
The Nigerian electricity sector classified with gas, steam and air conditioning supply recorded the highest growth by any sector in the country, posting a 78.16 per cent year-on-year real GDP growth, according to the recently released Gross Domestic Product (GDP) report, by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
According to the report, Nigeria’s non-oil sector of the economy was largely driven by growth recorded in trade, telecommunication, road transport, electricity, crop production, and food production.
Also, on a half-year basis, the sector grew by 56.58 per cent year-on-year compared to a contraction of 2.78 per cent recorded in the corresponding period of 2020.
Meanwhile, when compared to the previous quarter, the sector recorded a growth of 264.23 per cent to a real aggregate of N134.19 billion in the second quarter of 2021, as opposed to N36.84 billion recorded in the first quarter of 2021.
The significant increase in the sector’s GDP value is largely attributed to the increase in electricity tariff in the country.
Recall that in January 2021, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) instructed DisCos to increase electricity tariffs.
The sector’s growth is largely due to increases in the tariff of electricity in the country, and yet another upward review is due for September, under the Service-Based Tariff (SBT) programme of NERC. The electricity sector recorded the highest sectoral growth in the Nigerian economy in the review period.
