Nigeria's economy has struggled in recent years due to lower oil prices and harsh economic reforms, leading to a severe cost of living crisis. Posts circulating on social media say that this has made Ethiopia replace Nigeria as the fourth largest economy in Africa. This is false: the International Monetary Fund placed Ethiopia's economy in sixth place and Nigeria's fourth in Africa at the end of 2024.
“Ethiopia has just dethroned Nigeria to become the 4th largest economy in Africa as Nigeria is now ranked 5th,” read the mailwhich has been shared nearly 3,000 times since its publication on January 5, 2024.
A screenshot of the fake X post, taken on January 13, 2025
It also features a quote allegedly attributed to someone called Okennyi Kenechi which reads: “From number one to 5 in just 10 years. The mistake of 2015 will take decades to correct.”
In 2015, the People's Democratic Party lost the election to the All Progressives Congress, which is still in power (archive here).
The application also appeared on other social media platforms including here and here on Facebook and on X.
The best economies in Africa
Gross domestic product (GDP) is an indicator of the size of an economy. he is steps value of goods and services produced in a country over a specific period (archive here).
The International Monetary Fund (IMF), a global financial institution with 191 member countries, tracks and publishes economic data including GDP.
South Africa, Egypt and Algeria are ranked as the three best economies in Africa, according to the IMF GDP estimates for 2024 (archive here).
Chart showing the GDP of Africa's largest economies in 2024. Source: International Monetary Fund.
Nigeria's economy placed fourth with a GDP of $199.72 billion, followed by Morocco and Ethiopia.
Before that first
Nigeria was the largest economic powerhouse in Africa between 2012 and 2016, based on IMF data.
He dropped to second place in 2017 but returned to pole position the following year and held this spot until 2022.
Egypt overtakes Nigeria to become Africa's largest economy in 2023.
Chart showing GDP data of the three main economies in Africa at the moment. Source: International Monetary Fund
This data refutes the second part of the claim, which states that Nigeria went from being the largest economy in Africa to the fifth largest in 10 years.
Instead, IMF data shows that Nigeria went from being the largest economy to the fourth largest in 10 years.
You can find everything from AFP fact-checking on applications from Africa here.
