The economic reforms rolled out by President Bola Tinubu’s administration since May 2023 have boosted the country’s economy, the African Development Bank (AfDB) said on Tuesday.

This is contained in the African Economic Outlook 2025 released by AfDB at its ongoing annual meeting in Abidjan on Tuesday.

According to the report, services contributed three-quarters of Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth.

The report attributed 13 per cent to industry growth, driven by higher oil production, which rose 2.8 per cent to 1.56 million barrels per day in 2024.

It stated that agriculture production, supported by competitive domestic prices, contributed nine per cent to GDP growth.

“Demand was moderated by suppressed consumption due to higher prices. Market-determined petrol prices increased by 77 per cent, and the naira weakened by 42 per cent during 2024.

“Both key underlying factors contributed to inflation, which stood at 33.2 per cent in 2024, up from 24.7 per cent in 2023.

“To dampen inflation pressures, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) tightened the policy rate to 27.5 per cent,” it said.

The report said a fiscal deficit of 3.9 per cent of GDP, which
was marginally lower than 4.0 per cent in 202, was largely driven by increased non-oil revenue.

“Public debt increased to 52.3 per cent of GDP in 2024 from 41.5  per cent in 2023,’’ it said.

According to the report, this is driven by a weaker naira and increased public borrowing.

It stated that the current account surplus increased to 9.2 per cent of GDP in 2024 from 1.6 per cent of GDP in 2023 as higher import prices lowered imports.

The report said the financial services sector initiated recapitalisation to align with the trillion-dollar economy agenda while financial stability improved.

It said non-performing to gross loans ratios fell to 4.1 per cent in mid-2024 from 4.4 per cent in 2023.

(NAN)