ICT, Agric, Others To Drive Economic Growth In Nigeria In 2022 – Bismarck Rewane

Chief Executive Officer, Financial Derivatives, Bismarck Rewane has listed ICT, Financial Services, Transport, Construction, Manufacturing, Trade and Agriculture as sectors that are expected to drive economic growth in 2022.

Disclosing this during the Nigerian-British Chamber of Commerce January Breakfast Meeting themed ‘2022 Economic Outlook’, Rewane noted that this projection is based on the success and high level of productivity in these key sectors.

He further noted that economic activity in 2022 will be similar to 2021, owing to global inflationary trends linked to COVID-19.

He however projected that the country’s inflation rate was expected to remain structurally high with a full-year average of 13.3 percent. According to him, the development would be driven by cost-push factors such as fuel subsidy removal, electricity tariff and taxation.

He further stressed that Nigerians will be richer in 2022 as the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) rate would be revised upwards to 2.8 percent from its current 2.1 percent based on improvements in the services and manufacturing sector.

“We can expect to see sustained cost-push factors, including a planned fuel subsidy removal, new electricity tariffs and additional taxes; alongside legacy issues, such as increased debt service burden and exchange rate conversion. Inflation will remain structurally high at an average of 13.3 percent, with an increase in Q1 and Q2”, he noted.

While also noting that there has been a 90 percent surge in electronic payment, e-commerce, digitalisation and technology, Rewane projected that competition between traditional banks and Fintechs will intensify, while banks with constant innovation and regional diversification will remain resilient.

Recall that Investors king had previously reported that Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc announced plans to seek regulatory approval for the establishment of a Fintech subsidiary. The new financial services unit which will be called Stanbic IBTC Financial Services Limited will operate as a Payment Solution Service Provider (PSSP) upon regulatory approvals, including licensing by the Central Bank of Nigeria.

This development from Stanbic IBTC came a few days after Standard Chartered Bank announced it was shutting down 50 percent of its Nigerian branches in a move to digitalise operations and reduce operating costs.

The Nigerian-British Chamber of Commerce is the foremost bilateral Chamber in Nigeria and was established in 1977 to promote Trade and Investment between Nigeria and Britain.