Korede Abdullah in Lagos
Nigeria’s Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sector contributed 16.35% to the country’s real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the third quarter of 2024.
This is a decline from the 19.78% contribution in the previous quarter, but higher than the 15.97% contribution in the same period last year, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
The ICT sector’s growth rate was 5.92% in real terms, year-on-year, driven largely by activities in the telecommunications sub-sector.
This sub-sector contributed 13.94% to the GDP in real terms, making the telecom industry the third-largest contributor to the real GDP in Q3 2024.
The sector is dominated by mobile network operators such as MTN, Globacom, Airtel, 9mobile, and Internet Service Providers (ISPs).
In nominal terms, the ICT sector contributed 11.30% to the total Nominal GDP in the third quarter of 2024, lower than the rate of 11.57% recorded in the same quarter of 2023.
The sector’s growth was recorded at 14.51% (year-on-year), a 25.75% points decrease from the rate of 40.27% recorded in the same quarter of 2023.
Nigeria’s GDP grew by 3.46% year-on-year in real terms during the third quarter of 2024, driven primarily by the Services sector, which expanded by 5.19% and accounted for 53.58% of the aggregate GDP.
The Agriculture sector recorded a modest growth of 1.14%, while the Industry sector posted a growth rate of 2.18%.
Despite the decline from the gain of the previous quarter, the growth in the ICT sector better than the same period in the previous year and the overall economy is a positive sign for Nigeria, which is Africa’s largest ICT market, with about 82% of the continent’s telecoms subscribers and 29% of internet usage.
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