Business
Nigeria growing faster than South Africa – more work needed from Nigeria to reach parity
(Reuters) – “There’s more to life than gross domestic product (GDP),” is a favorite refrain of left-leaning social commentators and environmental activists. But when it comes to geopolitics, there are few better ways of establishing dominance than by seeing whose is number one.
Nigeria plans to rebase its GDP calculations later this year, a move which insiders say will push the size of its economy up by 40 percent, bringing it close to South Africa’s.
The potential turnaround will add fuel to a longstanding contest between the two nations to be Africa’s undisputed leader, and eventually its voice at the United Nations, which periodically ignites rows between them.
By the end of this year, at least assuming oil prices don’t collapse, Nigeria and South Africa should be approaching par in dollar terms: US$370 billion and US$390 billion, respectively.
With Nigeria growing at 7 percent a year and South Africa at less than half that, Nigeria could be ahead in just a few years.
Unavoidable
Citizens of Nigeria are hoping this will translate into more prestige on the world stage, as happened on a grander scale to China, when its GDP started dwarfing those of established world powers.
It will certainly wake investors up to the opportunities in Africa’s most populous country and biggest energy producer.
