South Africa lost its spot as No. 1 economy in Africa to Nigeria in 2014, and its No. 2 spot to Egypt in 2016. So who has best shot next at bypassing the South African economy? And how soon will it happen? These are 21 of the World Economic Forum’s top performing economies in Africa based on gross domestic product. You’ll be surprised who’s absent from this list: Rwanda. We’ve shown the IMF’s projected GDP data between 2015 and 2012 at current rates in billions of US dollars. Countries are ranked from smallest economies to largest.
Sources: InternationalMonetaryFund, BusinessDayLive
2015: $8.9 billion
2016: $8.4 billion
2021: $11.3 billion
2015: $10.9 billion
2016: $10.1 billion
2021: $15.2 billion
2015: $14.4 billion
2016: $14.2 billion
2021: $21.4 billion
2015: $13.7 billion
2016: $14.6 billion
2021: $22.6 billion
2015: $21.9 billion
2016: $19.1 billion
2021: $26.7 billion
2015: $24.7 billion
2016: $25 billion
2021: $37.2 billion
2015: $28.5 billion
2016: $30.3 billion
2021: $43.2 billion
2015: $43.6 billion
2016: $44 billion
2021: $51.9 billion
2015: $31.2 billion
2016: $34.7 billion
2021: $55.7 billion
2015: $36 billion
2016: $38.2 billion
2021: $56.5 billion
2015 GDP: $38.9 billion
2016: $41.2 billion
2021: $57.3 billion
2015: $43.6 billion
2016: $44 billion
2021: $51.9 billion
2015: $44.9 billion
2016: $45.9 billion
2021: $68.9 billion
2015: 61.405 billion
2016: 64.688 billion
2021: 81.277 billion
2015: $61.6 billion
2016: $67.4 billion
2021: $105.1 billion
2015: $103 billion
2016: $81.5 billion
2021: $109.8 billion
2015: $103.1 billion
2016: $108.1 billion
2021: $146.6 billion
2015: $172.3 billion
2016: $166 billion
2021: $197.7 billion
2015: $313 billion
2016: $266.2 billion
2021: $323.3 billion
2015: $330.8 billion
2016: $341.7 billion
2021: $433.2 billion
2015: $490.2 billion
2016: $538 billion
2021: $759.4 billion