The South African economy is looking very healthy. The good news is that it is bigger than its three closest African rivals combined …

SOUTH AFRICA is not sub-Saharan Africa’s most populous country, nor its fastest growing, but it remains the largest economy by a long way.

World Bank estimates suggest that South Africa’s GDP was close to $280 billion in 2007, well ahead of oil-rich Nigeria at $166 billion. As South Africans voted on Wednesday April 22nd the rest of the continent watched with care: the fate of the region’s largest economy, and one of the main investors in the rest of Africa, will have a strong impact on its neighbours. Oil and gas play no significant part in South Africa’s economy, but hydrocarbons determine the economic fortunes of Angola (a GDP of $59 billion) and Sudan ($48 billion).

Source: The Economist