CNNMoney has declared the country as the worst performing economy in Africa two months after ranking the country next to China and Qatar as world fast-growing economies.

“By our estimate, the fastest growing economies in 2015 will be China, Qatar and Nigeria. Nigerian economy, growing by 7.0 percent, came after China 7.3 percent and Qatar 7.1 percent,” CNNMoney had said in January.

However the programme now believes otherwise, saying the oil price fall is choking Nigeria and as a result the country faces harsh economic realities and a rapid depletion of its reserves.

“Nigeria’s currency is trading at a record low against the United States (US) dollar,” it said.

“The stock market has slumped 15 percent this year –making it the worst performer in Africa – and financial reserves are being depleted.”