Nigeria Replaces South Africa As Continent’s Largest Economy 

Nigeria has overtaken South Africa as the continents largest economy after it officially went into recession Tuesday.

The continents largest economy was determined based on the exchange rates of the currencies of the two economies with Nigeria pegged at N306 per dollar and N360 per dollar in the parallel market.

The average exchange rate of the South African rand is 14.43 for a dollar.

Based on the exchange rate, South Africa’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was pegged at $352 billion while Nigeria’s GDP is $ 402 billion or $476 billion.

South Africa had announced Tuesday that the country’s GDP had contracted by 0.8% in the fourth quarter of 2019, which represents a decline in four consecutive quarters. The country’s economy only grew by 0.2% in 2019.

The International Monetary Fund had reviewed the country’s growth in 2020 from 2.5% to 2% in February due to fall in oil price as a result of the coronavirus.

Similarly, South Africa’s GDP would expand by 0.8%, consequently the country’s GDP would grow slower than Nigeria’s.

Meanwhile, Egypt was rated third largest economy in the continent with a GDP pegged at $302.3 billion.