Bismarck Rewane, chief executive officer (CEO) of Financial Derivatives Company (FDC) Limited, says Nigeria’s economy is growing faster than its population, meaning Nigerians should be getting richer as economic output increases.
On August 31, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said Nigeria’s economy grew by 4.43 percent in real terms in the second quarter (Q2) of 2026.
Speaking during an interview on Channels TV on Tuesday, the economist said the figure should be assessed as a measure of economic output rather than revenue.
He said Nigeria’s estimated population growth rate of about 2 percent means the economy is expanding faster than the population.
“Technically, it means that Nigerians should be getting richer because of the increase in output, as far as increasing population,” he said.
Rewane said Nigeria’s growth rate is significantly higher than the global GDP growth rate of about 2.3 to 2.4 percent.
“So, our rate of growth rate is twice the global growth rate. It’s equal to the African growth rate,” he said.
Rewane said the 4.43 percent growth rate was a strong performance compared with Nigeria’s previous position.
“So, I can say clearly that 4.43% is actually very good compared to where we were,” he said.
“If you look at it properly, you’ll find that 4.43% is the real GDP growth rate. The potential GDP growth rate is also about 4%. So, that is good.”
He said oil refining emerged as the fastest-growing sector during the period.
According to Rewane, oil refining growth increased from 15.78 percent in the second quarter (Q2) of 2025 to 43.94 percent in Q2 of 2026.
Rewane attributed the growth in refining to investments in the sector and the operations of modular refineries.
“It is needless to say, we know that the refinery has invested a lot. The modular refineries are also on. So, we have a plus 28 percent increase,” he said.
The economist said the non-oil sector also expanded its contribution to the economy, accounting for 95 percent of GDP, while the contribution of the oil sector declined.
“But note that oil sector is the primary goose that lays the foreign exchange eggs that we use to drive the economy,” he said.
Rewane said the NBS tracks 46 economic activities, of which 30 expanded during the period, 11 slowed and five contracted.
“So, generally speaking, the economy is doing well in terms of activity levels,” he said.
The economist also compared the GDP performance with the purchasing managers’ index (PMI), saying the index had increased over the preceding three months.
Rewane said the improvement in the PMI, which serves as a leading indicator, was reflected in the GDP growth.
Therefore, as a leading indicator, he said the GDP also increased.