The first article is titled: Rise in Human Development Index. The recent report by the United Nations
Development Programme (UNDP) shows that Nigeria’s Human Development Index (HDI) rose
marginally from 0.532 in 2017 to 0.534 in 2018. The HDI is a composite index of life expectancy,
education and per capita income indicators. The second article is titled : Increase in Balance of Trade
Surplus. The total value of Nigeria’s merchandise trade grew in 2019Q3 by 6.8% to ₦9,187 billion,
when compared to 2019Q2. The growth translated to a 1.33% rise relative to 2018Q3. Exports grew quarter-on-quarter by 15% to ₦5,288.5 billion, contrastingly imports decreased by 2.70% to ₦3,899.1 billion. Rise in Collection Efficiency among DisCos. The Association of Nigerian Electricity Distributors (ANED) noted a record rise in revenue collection to ₦466 billion. The rise indicated a 10% year-on-year growth, which was largely due to the Distribution Companies (DisCos) performance improvement. The collection efficiency peaked in July 2019 at 74.5%, with 2019Q3 setting a record of 70% efficiency5. The energy billed in 2019Q3 reduced to 328 GWh compared to the previous quarter but the reduced losses allowed DisCos’ billings rise to ₦43 billion. In the next section titled Economic Snapshot, the Quarterly and Monthly indicator figures for July and August 2019 are listed.
