Yobe begins training on economic indices of GDP for planning, investments
By Tada Jutha, Maiduguri
The Yobe State Government has begun a five-day training programme on the indices of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for economic planning and investments in the state.
The data-collation training, supported by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), is for the Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) staff that implement the State’s annual budget.
Declaring the training session open on Wednesday, in Damaturu, the Commissioner of Budget and Economic Planning, represented by the Permanent Secretary, Hamidu Isa Babi, disclosed: “Today’s training aims to analyse the state’s economic capacity to understand households and organisations income-generating levels and identify the various economic sectors for investments.”
Highlighting the state’s economic indices, Babi said that the GDP indices are crucial tools for economic analysis, adding that they help the government to prioritise the identified economic potentials for investments.
According to him, the NBS training initiative reflects the state’s commitment to understanding the vast economic potentials and income levels of people.
He noted that these are the only means to understand and implement the economic potentials that abound in the various sectors of the economy.
The Permanent Secretary further disclosed that the five-day training is being coordinated by Akindele Akinyemi of the NBS.
Emphasising the importance of training in harnessing the economic potentials, he said: “We’re conducting this training for the MDAs’ staff in 36 states, including Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT),” noting that it will enhance the states’ capacity in economic planning and ensure accurate data collation from the various sectors, including agriculture, industry, solid minerals, livestock and environment in mitigating climate change.
Reiterating the significance of the training, the state’s statistician general, Abdurrahman Malik, stated that it will help the state government harness the economic potentials and guide the MDAs in decision-making on sustainable economic growth and development.
