Africa’s per capita wealth revealed

A new report has revealed Africa’s wealthiest countries per capita, with South Africans seen as the wealthiest individuals on the continent with US$11,310 in wealth per person

According to New World Wealth (NWW), Libya ranks second, followed by Namibia, while Ethiopians are the poorest with US$260 per person.

North African countries Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, Egypt, Morocco all rank high on the list, New World Wealth noted; however, it added that all these figures are well below the global average of US$27,600.

Top-ranked worldwide countries such as Switzerland and Australia have wealth per capita of over US$250,000.

According to NWW, Angola ranks highest as the country which has seen the most growth in wealth per capita since 2000. It has grown 527%, from $620 in 2000, to $3,890 in 2013.

Namibia ranks second in terms of growth, up 289% to $10,500, with Nigeria third, up 275% to $1,350.

South Africa ranks eighth in terms of growth, up 169%, from $4,200, to $11,310 in 2013, – while Zimbabwe ranks last, down 10% to $570.

NWW pointed out that, back in 2000, Zimbabwe was one of the wealthiest countries in Sub-Saharan Africa on a wealth per capita basis, ranking ahead of the likes of Nigeria, Kenya, Angola, Zambia and Ghana.

Contributing factors to Zimbabwe’s poor performance since 2000 include:

• The erosion of ownership rights in the country which have led to a significant loss of currency value and hyper-inflation.
• The banning of independent media in the early 2000’s which has created a situation where it is impossible for investors to tell what is happening there.

According to NWW, all four of the countries at the bottom of the growth rankings (with the exception of Zimbabwe) have experienced uprisings which resulted in a change in leadership since 2000. They include Tanzania, Tunisia, Egypt, and Libya.

Africa: Total Wealth, 2013

 More on Africa’s wealth

Surge in Africa’s millionaires

South Africa’s millionaires set to grow 78%

World’s richest people in 2013