CAPE TOWN - The International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) latest World Economic Outlook report shows who the biggest economies are in Africa by measuring the GDP per capita.
According to the report, South Africa is Africa’s second-largest economy with a GDP of $349.3 billion. Egypt’s estimated total for 2017 is at $237 billion.
Taking the top spot is Nigeria, seen as Africa’s largest economy. In another measure, The IMF shows which African countries did well since 2011 and then also makes future predictions for 2020.
In this measure, Nigeria slips to 15th position on the list, just ahead of Egypt. Other African nations such as Mauritius and Gabon achieve great heights as they produce billions of dollar’s worth of value, while holding a small population.
Botswana overtook South Africa in 2011, as the latter’s economic slowdown took full effect, which resulted in a full dip in 2016. While all of the top 5 experienced similar, if mixed, trends in GDP per capita growth, the recoveries have been far stronger.
For example, Botswana is now extending its lead over South Africa, and Namibia on a trajectory which can eventually surpass it. According to the IMF, Mauritius and Gabon are expected to continue onwards and upwards.
Here is the data researched by the IMF:
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# Country GDP (2017, IMF) 1 Nigeria $376.3 billion 2 South Africa $349.3 billion 3 Egypt $237.1 billion 4 Algeria $178.3 billion 5 Angola $124.2 billion 6 Morocco $109.8 billion 7 Ethiopia $80.9 billion 8 Kenya $79.5 billion 9 Sudan $58.2 billion 10 Tanzania $51.7 billion