By Camillus Eboh
ABUJA, Feb 3 (Reuters) - Nigeria plans to rebase its gross
domestic product in an effort to determine the current structure
of its economy, according to a statement from the National
Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
The last time Nigeria rebased, in 2014, it found that the
economy was around 60% bigger than it had been reporting. The
change pushed it ahead of South Africa to become the continent's
largest economy.
The NBS will change the base year for calculating Nigeria's
GDP to 2018/2019 from 2010, the statement said. In 2014, it
changed the base year to 2010 from 1990.
It said the ongoing survey of nationwide businesses would
enable it to determine the structure of its economy, the sectors
that drive growth and the sectors that require government
intervention to improve.
Most governments overhaul GDP calculations every few years
to reflect changes in output and consumption. Prior to 2014,
Nigeria had not done so since 1990.
Amaka Anku, Africa director at Eurasia Group, said the
rebasing was likely to increase the size of Nigeria's economy in
dollar terms despite its entry to a second recession in five
years and a weakened naira.
"They'll be adding new components to the GDP so it would
likely result in a larger economy, but definitely not as big a
bump as in 2010," Anku said in an email.