Nigeria overtook South Africa on Sunday to become Africa’s largest economy and 26th largest in the world after the government released updated figures that nearly doubled estimates for gross domestic product. As a result of the statistical revision, Nigerian GDP for 2013 was $509bn, 89 per cent larger than previously stated for last year. The change was made by bringing forward the base year for calculations to 2010 from 1990, when the structure of the economy was very different and services such as banking and telecoms had barely taken off. Companies ranging from Nestlé and Standard Bank to Heineken and MTB have already poured millions of dollars into Nigeria but foreign businessmen and analysts said the revision could serve as a catalyst for further investment. “The revision will have a psychological impact. It underlines to foreign investors that this country has a large consumer base. It validates the […]