{"id":15830,"date":"2016-05-13T20:03:01","date_gmt":"2016-05-13T20:03:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/?p=15830"},"modified":"2016-11-28T16:20:47","modified_gmt":"2016-11-28T16:20:47","slug":"africa-economy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/africa-economy","title":{"rendered":"South Africa Is No Longer Africa\u2019s Second-Largest Economy"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"a6b39195b99473d6c9dd698db2668010\" data-index=\"1\" style=\"float: none; margin:2px 0 2px 0; text-align:center;\">\n<center>\r\n\r\n<script type='text\/javascript'>\r\nfunction ShorterThan(widthMax) {\r\n                if (screen.width < widthMax) {return true;}  \r\n                else {return false}\r\n    }\r\nvar LimitWidth = 728\r\nvar MobileZoneID = 348996\r\nvar DesktopZoneID = 348995   \r\n<!--\/\/<![CDATA[\r\n   document.MAX_ct0 ='';\r\n   var m3_u = (location.protocol=='https:'?'https:\/\/cas.criteo.com\/delivery\/ajs.php?':'https:\/\/cas.criteo.com\/delivery\/ajs.php?');\r\n   var m3_r = Math.floor(Math.random()*99999999999);\r\n   document.write (\"<scr\"+\"ipt type='text\/javascript' src='\"+m3_u);\r\n   if (ShorterThan(LimitWidth)) {document.write (\"zoneid=\"+MobileZoneID);} else {document.write (\"zoneid=\"+DesktopZoneID);}\r\n   document.write(\"&nodis=1\");\r\n   document.write ('&cb=' + m3_r);\r\n   if (document.MAX_used != ',') document.write (\"&exclude=\" + document.MAX_used);\r\n   document.write (document.charset ? '&charset='+document.charset : (document.characterSet ? '&charset='+document.characterSet : ''));\r\n   document.write (\"&loc=\" + escape(window.location));\r\n   if (document.referrer) document.write (\"&referer=\" + escape(document.referrer));\r\n   if (document.context) document.write (\"&context=\" + escape(document.context));\r\n   if ((typeof(document.MAX_ct0) != 'undefined') && (document.MAX_ct0.substring(0,4) == 'http')) {\r\n       document.write (\"&ct0=\" + escape(document.MAX_ct0));\r\n   }\r\n   if (document.mmm_fo) document.write (\"&mmm_fo=1\");\r\n   document.write (\"'><\/scr\"+\"ipt>\");\r\n\/\/]]>--><\/script>\r\n<\/center>\n<\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">South Africa was once the largest economy in Africa. In 2014, Nigeria pushed the nation to second place. Now a report written by KPMG found that based <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/growing-economies?utm_source=Facebook&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;utm_campaign=FB_Afr1_All_Economies\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">on this year&#8217;s IMF GDP growth predictions<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, South Africa is no longer the second largest economy in Africa. Egypt has overtaken the country\u2019s spot and South Africa is now ranked third. Nigeria remains the largest economy in the continent.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><strong>Currency devaluation<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Over the last three years, South Africa\u2019s economy has declined by about 7% annually in terms of US dollar value. South Africa\u2019s currency &#8211; the rand &#8211; depreciated significantly during this time. In 2012, it was valued at an average of R8.20\/$. By 2015, its value fell by more than 50% to R12.74\/$. This was a critical hit for the country. According to the KPMG report:<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong> \u201cWere it not for the rand\u2019s slump\u201a South Africa would not have surrendered its second place during 2015.\u201d<\/strong> <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">At the same time, the Egyptian economy\u2019s US dollar value was increasing. While the Egyptian Pound also experienced depreciation over the last three years, it was at a much slower rate than the rand.<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_15834\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-15834\" style=\"width: 722px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\" wp-image-15834\" src=\"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2016\/05\/view_from_cairo_tower_31march2007-1.jpg\" alt=\"source\" width=\"722\" height=\"559\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2016\/05\/view_from_cairo_tower_31march2007-1.jpg 700w, https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2016\/05\/view_from_cairo_tower_31march2007-1-600x465.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2016\/05\/view_from_cairo_tower_31march2007-1-85x66.jpg 85w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 722px) 100vw, 722px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-15834\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><a href=\"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/b\/b2\/View_from_Cairo_Tower_31march2007.jpg\" target=\"_blank\">source<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2><strong>Domestic issues<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Christie Viljoen, the KPMG senior economist who wrote the report, noted that South Africa is still the most developed economy in Africa and has a more diversified economic base than Egypt.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong>&#8220;&#8230;its fall from first and now second place among the continent\u2019s giants is of great concern, especially as this development is largely attributed to weakness in the rand that, in turn, has largely been as a result of domestic issues,&#8221; Viljoen said.<\/strong> <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Domestic issues could refer to problems in President Zuma\u2019s leadership. The president unexpectedly fired finance minister Nhlanhla Nene in December 2015. This move cost the country\u2019s Public Investment Corporation more than R100 billion ($6.6 billion) and the country\u2019s stock exchange approximately R171 billion ($66.5 billion). David Maynier, the DA shadow minister of finance, said:<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong> \u201c[This] serves as proof that President Jacob Zuma was dead wrong when he claimed the effect of his disastrous decisions was \u2018exaggerated\u2019 in South Africa.\u201d<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<figure id=\"attachment_15835\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-15835\" style=\"width: 700px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-15835\" src=\"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2016\/05\/peoples_march_anti_xenophobia.jpg\" alt=\"source\" width=\"700\" height=\"394\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2016\/05\/peoples_march_anti_xenophobia.jpg 700w, https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2016\/05\/peoples_march_anti_xenophobia-600x338.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2016\/05\/peoples_march_anti_xenophobia-85x48.jpg 85w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-15835\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><a href=\"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/6\/69\/People's_March_Anti_Xenophobia.jpg\" target=\"_blank\">source<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2><strong>A psychological blow<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">KPMG claims that the trajectory of the Egyptian Pound is uncertain, therefore, it is difficult to predict how Egypt\u2019s GDP in US dollar terms is going to perform in the future. However, Business Monitor International\u2019s exchange rate assumptions suggest that South Africa will be \u201c<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">unable to retake the continent\u2019s second-place position anytime soon<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">.\u201d KPMG\u2019s chief economist Lullu Krugel believes that closing the gap between Nigeria and South Africa would be \u201c<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">really tough<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201d and would require global economy and domestic policies to lean in South Africa\u2019s favor. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong>\u201cPsychologically, I do think this is a blow,\u201d she said. \u201cWe\u2019ve always thought of ourselves as the powerhouse of Africa, and then we\u2019re number two and now we\u2019re pushed to number three.\u201d<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<figure id=\"attachment_15836\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-15836\" style=\"width: 660px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-15836\" src=\"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2016\/05\/cb_bs05w8aap89c.jpg\" alt=\"source\" width=\"660\" height=\"371\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2016\/05\/cb_bs05w8aap89c.jpg 660w, https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2016\/05\/cb_bs05w8aap89c-600x337.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2016\/05\/cb_bs05w8aap89c-85x48.jpg 85w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 660px) 100vw, 660px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-15836\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><a href=\"https:\/\/pbs.twimg.com\/media\/Cb_bs05W8AAp89C.jpg\" target=\"_blank\">source<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/growing-economies\">SEE ALSO:\u00a03 Of The World\u2019s Fastest Growing Economies Are In Africa.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<!--CusAds0-->\n<div style=\"font-size: 0px; height: 0px; line-height: 0px; margin: 0; padding: 0; clear: both;\"><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>South Africa was once the largest economy in Africa. In 2014, Nigeria pushed the nation<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":15836,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[27,110],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v20.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>South Africa Is No Longer Africa\u2019s Second-Largest Economy<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Over the last three years, South Africa\u2019s economy has declined about 7% annually in terms of US dollar value.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/africa-economy\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"South Africa Is No Longer Africa\u2019s Second-Largest 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