The recent movements in the dollar-naira exchange rate, following the removal of the currency peg, has stimulated ongoing debate in the media that South Africa has regained its position as the largest economy in Africa. The prevailing notion is that the depreciation of the naira and simultaneous appreciation of the rand against the US dollar implies that South Africa’s GDP has surpassed that of Nigeria. However, this argument needs some re-examination, given that the value of the GDP (in current US$) is sensitive to the choice of exchange rate and GDP figures used for its computation. This piece situates the present argument in the context of recent commodity market crisis and its implications for the two largest economies in Sub-Saharan Africa
Policy Brief & Alerts
March 11, 2018
A Note On The Economic Downturn In Sub-Saharan Africa
The recent movements in the dollar-naira exchange rate, following the removal of the currency peg, has stimulated ongoing debate in the media that South Africa has regained its position as the largest economy in Africa. The prevailing notion is that the depreciation of the naira and simultaneous appreciation of the rand against the US dollar […]
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Related
Nigeria Economic Update (Issue 3)
The
Nigeria stock market indices; All Share Index (ASI) and Market Capitalization
declined by 2.4 percent to close at 26537.36 points and N9.12 trillion
respectively at the end of the trade session this week8 The decline
in the indices, which is attributed to the low subscription for stocks in the
market, led to the partnership between Security and Exchange Commission (SEC)
and Debt Management Office (DMO) to salvage the financial system.