It will take Nigeria decades to catch up to South Africa’s economy

South African economists have welcomed the announcement that Nigeria is now the biggest economy in Africa saying it is good news for the continent.  This follows the release of the long awaited figures of more accurate gross domestic product levels for the West African country.

The results of the rebasing which was undertaken by Nigeria’s National Bureau of Statistics makes the West African giant’s economy about 60% bigger than the South African economy.  Dawie Roodt advised, “We had expected this all along, Nigeria has been the biggest economy for a number of years but it was the way they had calculated their figures.”

He went on to advise, “It is good news for Nigeria and good news for Africa”.  The figures show the Nigerian GDP is at $509 billion with the South African economy at $322 billion.  It was the first time in 24 years that Nigeria rebased its GDP calculations.  Roodt also said, “Two major industries were excluded in their calculation namely telecommunication and the film industry known as Nollywood.”

He says there’s been phenomenal growth in these industries, which have contributed s to the growth of the Nigerian economy.  South Africa’s Ministry of Finance also welcomed the news of Nigeria’s ascendancy.  “This is a positive story of African countries contributing to re-shaping each other’s economies through increased investment,” the ministry said.

However, Roodt said it would “take decades” for Nigeria to catch up to the South African economy that is much more diversified and its infrastructure is well developed.  He added that the population size is also much bigger but Nigeria’s per capita growth is much lower than South Africa.

Furthermore, he added, “South Africa shouldn’t be worried and ironically our telecommunication companies like MTN and retails stores like Shoprite are heavily invested in Nigeria.”  However, the official opposition, the Democratic Alliance had a different take.  The DA concluded in a statement, “We believe that South Africa has the potential to do much better. With decisive leadership, the right policy mix and a government committed to job creating inclusive economic growth, we can again challenge Nigeria for the number one spot.”

Source:  The Africa Report