This African country is shaking up conventions and will boost its GDP with the sale of drugs and prostitution

This African country is shaking up conventions and will boost its GDP with the sale of drugs and prostitution
This African country is shaking up conventions and will boost its GDP with the sale of drugs and prostitution

Nigeria, a West African country, is preparing to revolutionize the calculation of its national wealth or GDP by announcing the integration of activities hitherto ignored by official statistics, including those relating to the underground economy. such as drug dealing and prostitution.

This unprecedented decision was announced by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

This structural reform of the calculation of Nigerian GDP will take 2019 as the new reference year, replacing 2010.

It aims to provide a more faithful image of the country’s real economic activity.

Baba Madhu, deputy director of the NBS, notably justified this approach by highlighting the significant economic impact of illegal activities, explicitly citing the drug trade and the “oldest profession in the world”, the income from which fuels the formal economy. despite their contested legal status.

Note that this initiative comes in a context of economic decline for Nigeria, which has lost its status as the leading African power, sliding to fourth position behind South Africa, Egypt and Algeria.

The approach is therefore part of a strategy aimed at restoring the country’s economic image by also integrating legal but hitherto undervalued sectors, such as the digital economy, health, retirement systems and the mining industry. .

The implications of this revision go far beyond the statistical framework. An upward revaluation of GDP would allow Nigeria to mechanically improve certain crucial economic ratios, notably per capita income and debt ratio, potentially facilitating access to international financing.

As a reminder, the last major revision of Nigerian GDP, in 2014, led to a spectacular 89% increase in declared national wealth.

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