ECONOMIC weight in Africa is shifting north. Nigeria has overtaken South Africa to become the continent's largest economy following the recalculation of GDP, although it remains less developed and more unequal than its rival. Moving up ten notches to become the world's 26th largest economy, Nigeria has joined the burgeoning club of middle-income countries.
The size of the economy is now estimated at 80.3 trillion naira ($509.9 billion), 89% larger than previously stated for last year, according to Yemi Kale, head of the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) speaking in the capital, Abuja, on Sunday. The GDP increase far exceeded expectations of analysts who had forecast a jump of between 40 and 60% prior to the rebasing exercise.
Most governments overhaul GDP calculations every few years to reflect changes in output and consumption but Nigeria had not updated its national statistics since 1990, a decade before the country's telecoms boom and love affair with Nollywood - Nigeria's prolific film industry.
Two decades ago, the country had only one telecom operator with around 300,000 telephone lines. Now, nearly a dozen operators service Nigeria's 120m mobile phone subscribers. Nollywood is now contributing 1.42% to the economy, Mr Kale said. Since 2011, a team of number-crunchers have taken to the streets across Nigeria to...Continue reading
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