Indications have emerged that but for the pumping in of well over N1.5 trillion to the economy within the second quarter by the telecoms sector, Nigeria may not have exited recession within the period.
This was made public by the executive vice chairman of Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Prof Umar Garba Danbatta, during the recent visit of Madam Angelique Weeks, chairperson of Liberia Telecommunications Authority (LTA) who paid him a courtesy visit in Abuja.
Prof Danbatta revealed that within the period, the telecoms sector contributed N1.549 trillion to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), representing 6.68 per cent increase from the first quarter of the year (N1.452 trillion).
While relying on statistics rolled out by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), he said during the second quarter of 2017, contributed 9.5 per cent to the GDP in contrast to 9.1 per cent contribution in the first quarter of the year.
According to him, “We are very proud of the remarkable contribution the sector is making. Even at the recent times when the whole economy was facing challenges, the sector had remained resilient and stable,” he told the visitor who was accompanied by a team of administrators from West Africa Telecommunication Regulators Association (WATRA)”.
It would be recalled that the NBS had penultimate Tuesday released statistical data showing that Nigeria effectively exited recession in second quarter after attaining a growth of 0.55.
Though many Nigerians had queried the meaning considering that prices of goods and services are still high, the Director General of NBS, Dr. Yemi Kale observed that even though the economy had exited recession, the feeling of the impact will take some time to manifest.
