In what seem to be an uninteresting statement, Nigerian Minister of Budget and National Planning, Udoma Udo Udoma has expressed optimism that Nigerian economy will in no time overtake South Africa as Africa’s biggest economy.
Minister of Budget and National Planning, Udoma Udo Udoma said this when he met a delegation of the Infrastructure Public-Private Partnership Summit Group paid him a courtesy visit, added that the economic programmes and policies the government is putting in place will ensure that Nigeria reclaims the top spot.
The minister suggested that the recent ranking placing Nigeria in second place can indicates that the country’s economy can bounce back through hardwork.
He recalled that South Africa’s economy overtook Nigeria as Africa’s biggest economy in dollar terms.
According to a Bloomberg report, South Africa’s currency, rand, gained 16 per cent against the US currency since the start of 2016, while in contrast, Nigeria’s naira has lost more than a third of its value.
Bloomberg, which used the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) at the end of 2015 published by the International Monetary Fund, also noted that the size of South Africa’s economy was $301 billion at the rand’s current exchange rate, while Nigeria’s GDP was put at $296 billion.
Udoma, however maintained that the ratings should spur Nigerians into working hard to rebuild the economy which was once a global attraction, stressing that the government is doing all it can to eliminate all bottlenecks in a bid to attract foreign investors.
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