Nigeria posts highest quarterly GDP growth in Q4 since recession

ABUJA — Nigeria’s economic growth rose to an annual rate of 2,55 percent in the three months to the end of December, its highest quarterly growth since a 2016 recession, the statistics office said on Monday.
Africa’s largest economy grew 2,27 percent in 2019 from 1,91 percent the previous year.
The country has struggled to shake off the effects of a 2016 recession that ended the following year, and has been grappling with low growth since.
Growth in 2019 was supported by a favourable oil price and higher crude production. The oil sector, which accounts for around two-thirds of government revenue and 90 percent of foreign exchange, grew 6,36 percent in Q4.
Crude production hovered at around 2 million barrels per day throughout the year, the statistics office said.
The non-oil sector, which the government is trying to make the main growth sector, rose 2,26 percent in Q4.
President Muhammadu Buhari, who began a second four-year term in May, has pledged to revive the economy and diversify it away from over-dependence on oil.
But investors have been waiting for policy signals that could lift growth. — Reuters