South Africa outstrips Nigeria as Africa's biggest economy

South Africa is once again the biggest economy on the African continent, a position it reclaims from Nigeria, thanks to a surging rand.

Using the gross domestic product at the end of 2015 published by the International Monetary Fund, Bloomberg reported that the size of South Africa’s economy is $301 billion at the rand’s current exchange rate, while Nigeria’s GDP is $296 billion.

Nigeria has suffered amid low oil prices, while South Africa is sensitive to shifts in the commodity cycle.

In July, South Africa stepped past Egypt as the continents’ second largest economy in dollar terms, having dropped behind the North African country earlier in the year.

Ref.: Business Tech