Economic growth must outpace population expansion for real devt — Economist

…says industry contribution to GDP still low

By Providence Ayanfeoluwa

Nigeria must urgently pursue a quantum leap in economic growth if it hopes to achieve real development, said economic expert.

Taking this position, Economics lecturer at the University of Ibadan, Prof. Wale Ogunkoya, also said that as the country’s population growth rate currently stands between 2.6 percent and 2.7 percent, the income growth remains less than one percent.    

He was speaking at a meeting with Deputy Chair of the SPD Parliamentary Group in the German Bundestag, Berlin,    Mr Armand Zorn, organized by Friedrich Ebert Stiftung in Lagos.

He stated further: “So if we must develop, we are not looking for moderate growth, we need a quantum leap; we need growth rate that is higher, much higher than population growth rate.

“If we need space at all, we can reduce population growth rate and have enough growth. Let us assume that we can reduce that, then, we should be more productive.    But to account for the population growth rate, we need nothing less than 8.8 percent or more growth in GDP. So we need to talk to ourselves in terms of population”.

Additionally, he explained that services are still contributing over 50 percent to GDP while agriculture and industry share the remaining 50 percent, where industry is still very low.

He said: “Industry’s contribution to GDP still low; the structure of the economy from 2024 has not changed. Services is still contributing over 50 percent, when you divide the remaining two, you see that agriculture and industry, industry is still very low.

On his part, Zorn described Nigeria as a country with huge potential, adding that he came into the country to build a good business relation with the German nation.

His word: “We in Germany want to do business with Nigeria. We want to intensify our relationship in terms of trade, in terms of investment, and that’s why it was important for me to come in on the ground and be able to talk to different people and get a better understanding of what’s going on in the country”.

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