These Three Countries Possess 50% of Africa’s Wealth

The African continent has a total wealth of $2.1 trillion and $1.18 trillion of said wealth can be found within three countries. South Africa, Egypt, and Nigeria are these African countries that control over 50% of the wealth of the entire continent.

With over 1.4 billion people in Africa and an HNWI of $1 million, there are only about 21 people who have attained billionaire status. Some of the cities in Africa considered to have the highest concentration of dollar millionaires are Johannesburg, Cairo, Cape Town, Lagos, and Nairobi.

The Most Populous Country in Africa Has about $228 Billion in Private Wealth

Clinching the third place is Nigeria which is widely known as the most populous country in Africa. She is blessed with resources such as oils and minerals and can boast of having 159 oil fields. This West African country is regarded as an economic giant in oil production.

The country produces about 1.9 billion barrels of crude oil each day. From the exportation of this product, revenue realized is as high as 80%. It also accounts for about 10% of the country’s GDP.

This GDP which is pegged at $440 billion hails from Nigeria’s numerous economic activities. Being Africa’s top petroleum producer and 15th world’s largest producer of said product, it is not so difficult to see why their Gross Domestic Product is this high.

Another contributing factor to why Nigeria is one of the three countries possessing 50% of Africa’s wealth is the fact that it has other natural resources. Raw materials such as coal, iron ore, zinc, Tin, and a couple more, also contribute to the country’s wealth.

The richest African man is known as Aliko Dangote, a Nigerian who owns the largest cement-producing factory in Sub-Saharan Africa. In a single year, Dangote cement accounted for a revenue of about $2.5 billion.

The businessman did not limit his ventures to just cement production, though. He also delved into the production of cooking salt, sugar, oil, and even fertilizer. Additionally, he has investments in other business ventures.

Moving on, according to the 2022 African Wealth Report by Henley & Partners, Nigeria has about 10,000 HNWIs and 510 multi-millionaires. About 28 people of its 218 million population are centi-millionaires with just 4 billionaires – Aliko Dangote being one of them with a net worth of $13.9 billion as of 2022.

Egypt Has a Private Wealth of $307 Billion and This Places them in Second Position

This North-Eastern African Country is placed in the second position of countries that account for over 50% of Africa’s wealth. It’s placed about 11 positions behind Nigerian when it comes to its population but ranks way high above them when it comes to wealth.

Despite having a high percentage of its population living below the poverty level, unemployed, and lacking basic health care, they still rank highly in the world.

Egypt is one of the most advanced countries in Africa. To buttress this is her long and rich history which dates to about 4000 BC. Also, she has an energy market owing to its richness in resources such as natural gas, oil, coal, and hydropower.

Despite the long period of economic stagnation the country faced, they were finally able to improve with some new changes in government policies. One of the country’s most renowned sources of wealth is its tourist revenue.

Tourism revenues, contributions from Egyptians in the diaspora, and the stock exchange contribute to Egypt’s wealth increase. Some other contributing factors are transportation, sanitation, and the supply of water.

In Egypt, the richest person as of November 2022, is Nassef Sawiris who has a net worth of $6.5 billion. His wealth was gotten from his construction and investment businesses which alone, account for about 6% of Egypt’s GDP.

Furthermore, Egypt has about 16,900 HNWIs, according to the 2022 African Wealth Report. The number of their multi-millionaires is 880 and they have 57 centi-millionaires. The number of persons who have attained the status of being called billionaires is 7.

Interestingly, Egypt has the highest number of billionaires in Africa, Nassef Sawiris and other members of his family inclusive.

READ ALSO: African Countries And Their Capitals, Independence, And Currency

South Africa has More Wealth than Egypt and Nigeria Combined

South Africa has a total wealth of $651 billion in private wealth with a High-Net-Worth Individual (HNWI) of over $1m, numbering almost 40,000 people (39,300). The number of multi-millionaires in the country is said to be 2,080, Centi-millionaires 94 people, and billionaires to be about 5.

This country has the wealthiest cities in Africa with Johannesburg topping the list. It has a GDP of 419 billion dollars with rich socio-economic growth. South Africa is multi-racial and so has the potential of progressing multi-culturally.

The richest city in the country and Africa at large – Johannesburg, has a total private wealth of $239 billion. This is even more than what Nigeria’s private wealth accounts for.

Closely following Jo-burg is Cape Town with $131 billion in private wealth. Placed in the 5th position just after Cairo and Lagos are the cities of Durban and Umhlanga. These cities have a total private wealth of $60 billion.

In November 2022, the richest man in South Africa, Johann Rupert, could boast of a combined net worth of $11 billion with his family. He hails from Cape Town and deals in luxurious goods from the fashion and retail industry.

However, South Africa has a lucrative mining sector and is ranked quite highly in the world. Other raw materials the country has in abundance are diamonds and gold.

On the basis of innovations in medicine and science, this Southern African-located country is the birthplace of heart transplants amongst other impressive discoveries.

Elon Musk, the wealthiest black person of African descent, even hails from South Africa. He now controls many of the world’s renowned innovations including Tesla and most recently, the bird app ‘Twitter’.