Embarrassing? How Long It Takes China To Create The Equivalent Of An African Economy

AFRICANGLOBE – Greece requested a new euro 29 billion bailout deal from the Eurozone, just hours before missing a deadline to pay $1.8 billion to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) expires.

In so doing, Greece became the first developed country to miss a debt payment to the IMF, putting it on the same list as nations like Zimbabwe, Sudan, Somalia, Iraq, and Afghanistan.

A referendum on Sunday will ask Greeks whether they want to accept the tough austerity conditions creditors have are demanding in exchange for continued loans, and some say it is essentially a vote on where to stay with the Euro. Regardless of how the vote goes, Greece is in for a tough time ahead.

If Greece exits the common currency, it is likely to have a knock on effect not just on Europe, but on the global economy as well, and Greece’s creditors such as the European Central Bank would face immediate losses.

Still, Greece makes up just 2% of the Eurozone economy, so comparatively small that Jim O’Neill, former head of economics at Goldman Sachs, once calculated that China created an economy the size of Greece every three months.

Between 2012 and 2013, China’s economy grew by $1 trillion, from $8.2 trillion to 9.2 trillion.

We apply the same calculation for African countries using data from the World Bank, and see how long China takes to create economies equivalent to African countries’ (all 2013 figures).

China would take more than a month to create economies in just five countries – Angola, Algeria, Egypt, South Africa and Nigeria. But for the majority of countries, China creates the equivalent of their economy in weeks, days, and for some, even hours. Some of the numbers might be embarrassing for good Africans.

By: Christine Mungai