Following the consistent crash of the Naira
against the dollar, Nigeria’s economy has lost its
place as the largest economy in Africa to South
Africa. This is according to a new report by
Bloomberg and the IMF.
According to the new reports, South Africa’s rand
had gained more than 16 percent against the
dollar from the beginning of 2016 and Nigeria’s
naira lost more than a third of its value when the
Central Bank introduced its new policy on Foreign
Exchange in June.
The reports states that South Africa’s economy is
currently at $301 billion at the rand’s current
exchange rate with the dollar while Nigeria’s GDP
is at $296 billion, based on gross domestic
product of 2015 published by the International
Monetary Fund.
Declining oil prices, reduced oil output due to the
activities of militants in the Niger Delta region and
shortage of foreign currency are among the
reasons Nigeria’s economy shrank by 0.4 percent
in three months early this year.
For South Africa, decline in farming and mining
output caused it economy to reduce by 0.2
percent. The report adds that although Nigeria is
unlikely to be unseated as Africa’s largest
economy in the long run, “the momentum that
took it there in the first place is now long gone.”
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