The Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise (CPPE) has commended Nigeria's first quarter gross domestic product (GDP) growth of 3.89 per cent, describing it as a sign of ongoing macroeconomic stabilisation, improving business confidence, and the resilience of key non-oil sectors. However, the organisation cautioned that sustainable economic transformation cannot rely solely on commerce, stressing that long-term growth resilience requires stronger productive capacity, deeper industrialisation, and significantly higher domestic value addition.
Non-Oil Sector Dominance
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) reported that the non-oil sector continued to dominate contributions to Nigeria's GDP, accounting for 96.08 per cent of the nation's 3.89 per cent GDP growth recorded in the first quarter of 2026. This share is higher than the 96.03 per cent recorded in the first quarter of 2025, but lower than the 97.13 per cent recorded in the fourth quarter of 2025. The non-oil sector contribution was led by the services sector, which contributed 57.75 per cent, up 0.23 per cent from 57.50 per cent in the first quarter of 2025.
Trade Sector Emerges as Top Contributor
In a policy brief on the GDP report, CPPE Chief Executive Officer Dr Muda Yusuf highlighted the emergence of the trade sector as the single largest contributor to GDP at 17.89 per cent. He attributed this to improved exchange rate stability, better foreign exchange liquidity conditions, easing inflationary pressures, and recovering business confidence, which have positively impacted commercial activities and trade flows.
Manufacturing Growth Below Potential
The manufacturing sector grew by 3.29 per cent, a figure still below the 10 per cent benchmark, underscoring ongoing structural constraints facing the industrial sector. High energy costs, elevated interest rates, weak infrastructure, logistics bottlenecks, and policy uncertainties continue to undermine industrial productivity and competitiveness. The CPPE stressed that the economy cannot achieve durable structural transformation without a stronger manufacturing base, noting that industrialisation remains the most sustainable pathway to large-scale job creation, export competitiveness, and inclusive growth.
Electricity/Gas Sector Contracts Sharply
The most troubling aspect of the report, according to the CPPE, is the sharp contraction of the electricity and gas sector by 15.30 per cent, making it the weakest-performing sector in the quarter and the steepest contraction recorded by the sector in recent years.
