Vunderkind
Social Member
Nigeria’s rebasing of its gross domestic product (GDP) figures has made it leap a step over South Africa to snag the number one position where African economies are concerned.
The rebasing has taken into consideration previously uncounted industries like ‘telecoms, information technology, music, online sales, airlines, and film production’, as BBC observes.
Nigeria’s 2013 GDP was for a total of 80.3 trillion naira, or $509.9 bn. This can be compared with South Africa’s GDP stat for the same year, which was $370.3 bn.
Does this change anything?
Economists would advise us not to raise our champagne glasses just yet, as these GDP figures change nothing. The reason is at 170 million people, Nigeria’s population is three times larger than South Africa’s.
Scaling down to the per capita measurements, South Africa’s GDP is three times larger than Nigeria’s. As Bismarck Rewane, a Nigerian financial analyst puts it, the GDP revision is “a vanity. “
He further observes: "The Nigerian population is not better off tomorrow because of that announcement. It doesn't put more money in the bank, more food in their stomach. It changes nothing."
Basically, the rebasing only gives an up-to-date account of an economy via its GDP statistics, nothing more.
Most countries conduct a GDP rebase every three years or so. Nigeria, however, hadn’t had one since the year 1990.
As at 1990, Nigeria had only one telecoms operator with aout 300,000 phone lines. Today, the telecoms industry has dominant players and smaller players and it is a crucial component of GDP with tens of millions of network subscribers.
In like manner, 24 years ago, Nigeria had only one airline. Today we have several.
International aid bodies are eager for more African countries to undertake their own GDP rebasing so the better figures can serve as decision-making tools when it comes to granting aid.
The rebasing has taken into consideration previously uncounted industries like ‘telecoms, information technology, music, online sales, airlines, and film production’, as BBC observes.
Nigeria’s 2013 GDP was for a total of 80.3 trillion naira, or $509.9 bn. This can be compared with South Africa’s GDP stat for the same year, which was $370.3 bn.
Does this change anything?
Economists would advise us not to raise our champagne glasses just yet, as these GDP figures change nothing. The reason is at 170 million people, Nigeria’s population is three times larger than South Africa’s.
Scaling down to the per capita measurements, South Africa’s GDP is three times larger than Nigeria’s. As Bismarck Rewane, a Nigerian financial analyst puts it, the GDP revision is “a vanity. “
He further observes: "The Nigerian population is not better off tomorrow because of that announcement. It doesn't put more money in the bank, more food in their stomach. It changes nothing."
Basically, the rebasing only gives an up-to-date account of an economy via its GDP statistics, nothing more.
Most countries conduct a GDP rebase every three years or so. Nigeria, however, hadn’t had one since the year 1990.
As at 1990, Nigeria had only one telecoms operator with aout 300,000 phone lines. Today, the telecoms industry has dominant players and smaller players and it is a crucial component of GDP with tens of millions of network subscribers.
In like manner, 24 years ago, Nigeria had only one airline. Today we have several.
International aid bodies are eager for more African countries to undertake their own GDP rebasing so the better figures can serve as decision-making tools when it comes to granting aid.
