NBS signs pacts with NPA, NFC on port, film data

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has signed agreements with the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) and the Nigerian Film Corporation (NFC) to generate port and filmrelated data.

At separate signing ceremonies held in Abuja, the Statistician General of the Federation, Dr. Yemi Kale, said the MoU with the NPA was because the ports are the major channels through which cargo, enter and exit the country.

“Generating and disseminating more granular information on these activities will be useful in ensuring that policymakers and managers within the sector are fully equipped with the right tools and evidence to do their work,” he said.

On the MoU with the NFC, Dr. Kale said the movie industry has contributed immensely to the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and data on the industry are significant for policy purposes.

He said the NBS would rebase the economy next year and such data on firms produced in Nigeria and the industry as a whole would be crucial in the debasing exercise in 2022.

The Managing Director of NPA, Hadiza Bala Usman, said about 90 percent of world trade passes through the sea globally even as the NPA is the sole curator of all the Statistical records evolving from Port activities in Nigeria.

The Managing Director of the NFC, Dr. Chidia Maduekwe, said data generation for the Nigerian film industry by the combined team of the NBS’ and the NFC’s officials would provide data needed to showcase, project as well as galvanise opportunities and investments in the film sector.