South Africa welcomes Nigeria as Africa's biggest economy

South Africa welcomed the announcement that Nigeria, Africa's most populous nation, is now the biggest economy in sub-Saharan Africa, the National Treasury said on Monday. "The announcement resonates with South Africa's consistent message since 1994 that we want to see more African economies grow and live up to their potential, just as we continue striving to do so in with our own economy," the Treasury said in a statement. Nigeria has become Africa's biggest economy after the country "rebased" its gross domestic product (GDP) data. Nigeria's GDP now includes previously uncounted industries like telecom, information technology, music, online sales, airlines, and film production. The West African country's GDP for 2013 totalled 80.3 trillion naira (about 509.9 billion U.S. dollars), compared with South Africa's 370.3 billion dollars at the end of 2013, according to the Nigerian statistics office. "The announcement gives concrete expression to the fact that Africa is indeed rising," the South African Treasury said. It said South Africa has been and will continue to benefit from faster economic growth in the rest of the continent. Furthermore, the South African government and the private sector continue to play no small a part in the growth and development of the continent, said the Treasury. In Nigeria's case, the wholesale and retail and the telecommunications sectors, the two largest components of the services sector, have big participation by South African firms who have played a big role in the growth and development of the two sectors, the Treasury said. "This is a positive story of African countries contributing to re-shaping each other's economies through increased investment. South Africa will continue to nurture mutually beneficial trade and investment ties with Nigeria and other African countries," said the Treasury.