Nigeria, South Africa, Egypt constitute half of Africa’s $2.7trn economy

Read Time: 2 minutes

IN 2021, the economies of three countries – Nigeria, South Africa, and Egypt – make up about half of Africa’s economic output measured by Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in nominal terms.

The three countries contribute up to 49.5 percent (about 50 percent) of Africa’s economy, with Nigeria contributing 18.4 percent, South Africa 15.9 percent, and Egypt having a share of about 15.2 percent of the $2.7 trillion economy, according to the International Centre for Investigative Reporting (ICIR).

Nigeria sits at the top of the African economy, in terms of nominal GDP in 2021, making up 18.4 percent of the continent’s $2.7 trillion economy.

Nigeria’s GDP, which measures how much a country produces in financial terms within a year, grew by 11.89 percent from 2020 to 2021.

Data from the IMF revealed that it rose from $429.423bn in 2020 to $480.482bn in 2021, making the country the highest contributor to Africa’s economic output/ GDP and the 29th in the world.

Nigeria’s top exports include: crude petroleum, petroleum gas, scrap vessels, flexible metal tubing and cocoa beans, according to data gathered by the Observatory of Economic Complexity (OEC).

South Africa’s largest exports are platinum, iron ore, gold, coal briquettes and citrus, while Egypt exports crude petroleum, refined petroleum, gold, petroleum gas and nitrogenous fertilisers.

Libya ranks 18th in Africa’s GDP and has experienced a 42.1 percent growth – the biggest GDP growth on the IMF list – from $335.344bn in 2020 to $415.315bn in 2021.

Following this growth trend is Equatorial Guinea (24.83 percent), Lesotho (23.96 percent), South Africa (23.85 percent), Republic of Congo (23.38 percent) and Angola (20.5 percent).

The exportation of crude petroleum fuels Libya’s growth. With 2.8 percent share of global reserves and 48 million barrels, it is home to the highest oil reserve in Africa.

The countries in Africa with the slowest economic growth had decreases in their output, as Ethiopia had a -3.99 percent growth and South Sudan had a -26.51 percent, making them African countries with least growth.

Ethiopia exports coffee mostly, followed by other oily seeds, gold, cut flowers and zinc ore. However, the coffee-rich country is embroiled in a civil war that has slowed its economic progress and engendered dire predictions of its GDP growth from the IMF.

South Sudan is an oil-dependent country, a resource that accounts for more than 70 percent of its GDP and more than 90 per cent of global revenue, according to the African Development Bank Group (AfDB).

As global prices fell, South Sudan’s economy suffered, while the Covid-19 pandemic slowed down the service sectors.