Why Nigeria is no more the largest Economy in Africa

The ranking of the economies of countries in Africa is based on their GDP (Gross domestic output). This is the measure of the economic activity in that country for a given year. Nigeria's GDP at this time was estimated to be $296bn,

second only to South Africa which is $301bn. It is interesting to note that Nigeria did not get to second place due to decrease in economic activity but rather due to the increase in exchange rate for the Rand against the US dollar.

Nigeria however got to first place by rebasing the economy, during the time of Dr. Mrs Okonji Iweala as Finance Minister. Rebasing of economies is carried out from time to time in many countries( precisely, every 5 years). It involves addition of new economic activities that were not formerly added, e.g. the Technological sector.

Economic Ranking does not mean the country is growing or is particularly living well. This is purely a measure of economic Activity / production.

One can see the level of poverty or the living standard of a country by calculating the GDP per Capita. This is the gross domestic output per person; this means that, a country that is ranked (100) with a small population might have a better living standard, because the country’s GDP per capita is beyond average.

It is said that policy makers and investors are not influenced by these ranking, but they are rather looking for economies with growth potentials, at  this time it is observed that even the top three largest economies do not have growth potentials for the next three years.