GDP Growth Data Masking Deep Industrial, Security Crises — MAN

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Nigeria’s 4.43 percent economic growth in the second quarter of 2026 (Q2’26) is masking a deepening industrial crisis, with manufacturing and the broader industrial sector losing ground as services increasingly dominate economic activity, the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, MAN, has warned.

This came as the senator representing Ogun East, Otunba Gbenga Daniel, said the true measure of Nigeria’s economic progress should be the lived experiences of citizens rather than growth in Gross Domestic Product, GDP, alone, saying that Nigeria cannot have a strong economy without security.

Reacting to the National Bureau of Statistics, NBS, Q2 2026 GDP, report, yesterday, MAN Director-General, Segun Ajayi-Kadir, said the 4.43 per cent year-on-year real GDP growth recorded in the quarter, up from 3.89 per cent in Q1 2026 and 4.23 percent in Q2 2025, masks deep-seated weaknesses in the real economy.

He noted that services accounted for 56.62 per cent of GDP in Q2, while the broader industrial sector contributed only 17.23 per cent and suffered a dramatic slowdown in growth.

“The growth trajectory remains disproportionately service-driven (56.62 per cent of GDP), while the broader industrial sector (17.23 per cent of GDP) is visibly suffocating under severe structural headwinds,” Ajayi-Kadir said.

He described the near-halving of industrial growth as particularly alarming, noting that it fell from 7.46 pe rcent in Q2 2025 to 3.96 per cent in Q2 2026.

According to him, the sharp deterioration was driven largely by the electricity, gas, steam and air-conditioning supply segment, which contracted by 10.63 per cent during the quarter.

MAN also noted that manufacturing’s share of real GDP plunged from 9.57 per cent in Q1 2026 to 7.72 per cent in Q2, while real manufacturing growth eased marginally…