Nigeria’s telecommunications industry is one of the sectors whose performance lifted the country out of recession in the fourth quarter of 2020, contributing 12.45 percent to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
According to the latest data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), telecommunications & Information Services under Information and Communication grew by 17.64 per cent in Q4 2020 from 17.36 per cent in Q3 2020 and 10.26 per cent in Q4 2019.
In the NBS report, agriculture, industries, and services sector, under which telecommunications is categorised, contributed 26.95 per cent, 18.77 per cent, and 54.28 per cent respectively.
This is a pointer to the fact that telecommunications, trade, services and crop production are the main drivers of Nigeria’s exit from recession.
In specific terms, NBS report showed that largest sub-sectors in Q4 2020 are crop production at 3.68 per cent, crude petroleum and natural gas at 8.2 percent, trade at 14.9 per cent, telecommunications & information services at 12.45 per cent, and real estate at 5.7 per cent, the report says.