FEBRUARY 5, 2018 – Nigeria may have lost her position as the biggest economy on the continent, according to a report by the African Development Bank (AFDB).
The report, made available to The Nation, showed that South Africa is the highest in Industrial Gross Domestic Product (GDP) with 44.8 percent.
It is followed by Egypt, with 30.1 per cent; Cote d’Ivoire, 29 percent; Kenya, 23.3per cent and Ghana 21 per cent.
Others are Ethiopia 21 per cent, Cameroon 17.9 percent and Nigeria 13.1 percent.
In the report titled: Industrialise Africa, the bank profiled the top eight countries on the continent and the contribution of industrial Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to their economies, noting that industrial GDP is low across the continent.
AfDB President, Dr. Akinwunmi Adesina, said the bank has put some measures in place to help boost the continent’s industrial GDP by 13 percent in 2025 and drive overall GDP from $2.3 trillion to $5.6 trillion.
He said: “To industrialise Africa, the AfDB is committed to mobilising capital, de-risking investments for the private sector, and leveraging capital markets. This is essential for moving Africa’s Industrial agenda forward and for building an Africa of the 21st century must be well positioned to take its place in global value chains.
‘’The bottom line is that we need to produce more and we need to produce better. Most of all, we need to add value to our resources and raw materials, and turn them into processed products,” he said.
