logo

Nigeria poised to become Africa\\\'s biggest economy

Friday, 4 April 2014


Nigeria could leap-frog South Africa to become Africa's biggest economy this weekend, when the results of a new way of calculating national output are announced. The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said it will unveil the new figures on Sunday, with widespread expectations that the recalculation will catapult the continent's most populous nation into top spot. United Nations statisticians recommend that countries rebase their gross domestic product calculations every five years to reflect changes in production and consumption, but Nigeria has not recalculated GDP since 1990. The new figures will take into account new and fast-developing sectors and industries such as telecoms and the local film industry, Nollywood. Nigeria, Africa's leading oil producer and exporter, has seen high rates of growth in recent years, making it an increasingly attractive investment destination for overseas firms, according to AFP.