Nigeria changed how it measures gross domestic product (GDP) and is now Africa's largest economy, for the first time. Nigeria "rebased" its GDP data to include newer industries not under the old measuring rules. Telecommunications, information technology, movie production and online commerce helped Nigeria overtake the old economic powerhouse, South Africa. Nigeria's GDP for 2013 totalled $510 billion, bigger than South Africa's GDP of $370 billion.

Most countries rebase GDP every three years to account for economic changes. Nigeria hadn't done it for 20 years. It has many new industries. The new figures do not mean Nigerians are suddenly richer. A statistician said it was better measuring. A Nigerian newspaper said that despite pockets of great wealth, most Nigerians live on $2 a day. It added that, "key services such as water and electricity provision are poor".