Nigeria's new GDP a sign of progress in shaping Africa's narrative says ECA's Lopes

Abstract

As a result of rebasing and re-benchmarking of the national accounts series of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), Nigeria’s nominal GDP has been nearly doubled, becoming Africa’s largest economy and the 26th largest economy in the world. Carlos Lopes, the Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) noted that the upward revision of Nigeria’s GDP has significant implications at the country level. The improved quality of the data more broadly captures the size and structure of the Nigerian economy. “Nigeria’s new GDP has important implications for the rest of the continent. It raises the question whether there are other African economies with a systematically underestimated GDP,” said Lopes. He added that using a recent base year and applying the 2008 System of National Accounts (2008 SNA) imply that the price structure is more representative of the economy.