The three largest economies in Africa – Nigeria, South Africa, and Egypt are stuttering. It came as no surprise that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has predicted a yoyo ladder position in the coming 48 months. The IMF sees the South African economy as a US $401 billion economy in 2024, compared to Nigeria’s US $395 billion and Egypt’s US $358 billion. The Fund expects that the position will be reversed a year later and return to what is generally accepted to be the long-term trend given Nigeria’s population, underutilized labor, and poor economic structure compared to South Africa. South Africa, the most developed economy on the continent is suffering from low growth and productivity spiral. Nigeria overtook South Africa as the largest economy on the continent after rebasing in 2014 but is experiencing what can be described as a lost decade since 2015. With an economy of over half a US $trillion in 2014, the former President presided over the most callous, reckless, and irresponsible measures to the economic shocks of the last 10 years.
