Egypt announced second largest economy in Africa

The latest world economic outlook by the International Monetary Fund has revealed South Africa is no longer the second largest economy in Africa, losing the position to Egypt.

Economists say the country's economy hasn’t grown enough and only shows a future growth prospect of 0.6 percent.

KPMG economist Lullu Krugel says the depreciating rand has also contributed to the downgrade.

“A big contributor was the depreciation of the rand and the fact that the Egyptian dollar didn’t depreciate by as much, but combined with that we have seen that the South African economy has not grown at the rate which we have gotten used to.”

Nigeria has taken the top spot as the largest economy on the continent.

Krugel adds, “Slow growth combined with the weak currency and a general loss of business confidence and foreign investment has resulted in South Africa losing out to Egypt.”