Nigeria - GDP grew 6.9% in 2009 on Telecom

[business week] Nigeria’s economy grew 6.9 percent last year, led by expansion in the West African nation’s telecommunications industry, the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics said.

Growth accelerated from 6 percent a year earlier, the agency said in a statement published in the Lagos-based ThisDay newspaper today. Non-oil industries expanded 8.6 percent, while oil and gas contracted 1.2 percent, it said.

The pick-up in growth is a “testament to Nigeria’s resilience at a time of globally contracting demand,” said Alan Cameron, Africa analyst at London-based Business Monitor International. Agriculture and general commerce will “continue to be the major drivers of growth in the years ahead.”

The country’s telecommunications industry, Africa’s biggest, expanded 34.2 percent last year, while the hospitality industry grew 12.9 percent and construction expanded 12.8 percent, the bureau said.



Nigerian GDP Grew 6.9% in 2009 on Telecom Industry