The real sector’s contribution to the Nigerian economy dipped to 2.20% (year-on-year) in the second quarter of 2023, according to the Gross Domestic Product report of the National Bureau of Statistics.

According to the report, the growth rate of the sector on a quarter-on-quarter basis was 14.98 per cent.

The real contribution to GDP in the second quarter of 2023 was 8.62 per cent, lower than the 8.65 per cent recorded in the second quarter of 2022 and lower than the 10.13 per cent recorded in the first quarter of 2023.

The manufacturing sector comprises 13 activities: oil refining; cement; food, beverages and tobacco; textile, apparel, and footwear; wood and wood products; pulp paper and paper products; chemical and pharmaceutical products.

Others include non-metallic products, plastic and rubber products; electrical and electronic; basic metal and iron and steel; motor vehicles and assembly; and other manufacturing.

The drop in the sector’s contribution to the economy has been linked to an array of bottlenecks, which bedevilled the real sector of the economy in the second quarter of the year.

Meanwhile, in its Manufacturers CEOs Confidence Index report, the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria said that the Aggregate Index Score of MCCI declined to 52.7 points in the second quarter of 2023 from 54.1 points recorded in the first quarter of 2023.

According to the report, manufacturing activities in the second quarter of the year suffered due to factors such as multiple taxation, high energy costs, forex illiquidity, high cost of borrowing, among others.

Those factors, the manufacturers said, had led to low capacity utilisation, job cuts and adoption of other survival tactics to keep production activities afloat.

Punch