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Tuesday, April 8, 2014
South Africa has fallen behind Nigeria in terms of African economic powerhouses, according to statistics from the West African nation’s Bureau of Statistics. Nigeria has slipped into the number one spot after a rebasing calculation almost doubled its GDP to more than $500 billion.
Speaking to reporters Yemi Kale, the bureau’s statistics chief said the new figure shrank the country’s debt-to-GDP ratio to 11% for 2013, down 9% from 2012 numbers.
This was the first overhaul of Nigeria’s GDP calculations in 14 years. The calculations were overhauled to aid in attracting more foreign investors. Kale said the base year would now be recalibrated every five years, in line with global standards.
The jump in the official GDP figure ranks Nigeria as 26th biggest economy in the world, up from 33rd before the rebasing, Kale said. It comes at a time of rising investor interest in the African continent’s growth potential and expanding middle class.
While the figures may have raised Nigeria’s economic profile on paper, poverty and inequality are not gaining any ground in the country.
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