“Africa faces a double crisis of inequality. Not only are the continent and its countries among the world’s most unequal, but its governments are on average among the least committed to reducing inequality. This has created a situation in which a few people are becoming rich beyond their wildest dreams, while the majority endure increasing hardship”; Oxfam International has said.
Oxfam International is a global movement of people committed to the fight against injustice and inequality. The organization has released a report highlighting Africa’s Growing inequality crisis and the rise of the super-rich.
According to the report, titled, Africa’s inequality crisis and the rise of the super-rich, Africa is home to nearly half of the world’s 50 most unequal countries.
The report highlighted that;
- Africa’s four richest people – all of whom are men – have more wealth than half of the region’s 750 million people combined.
- Over the past five years, African billionaires have increased their wealth by 56%; the five richest African billionaires have increased their wealth by 88%.
- Nearly half of the 50 most unequal countries in the world are African.
- Since 2020, the average income of the richest 1% in Africa has increased five times faster than that of the bottom 50%.
- African dollar millionaires, who account for 0.02% of the population, own nearly a fifth of the region’s wealth, while the bottom 50% own less than 1%.
- In Africa, men own three times more wealth than women; this is the highest gender wealth gap of all regions and is double the world ratio.
Why Inequality widens in Africa
Oxfam said that the widening inequality in Africa is attributed to wrong policies that facilitate explosive concentration and flow of wealth to a few.
“This level of extreme inequality is neither natural nor desirable but is the result of unjust policies and structures – nationally and globally – that see Africa’s wealth flowing to the few rather than benefiting the many”; the report said.
The report further highlighted that among all regions of the world, Africa scores lowest on governments’ average commitment to reducing inequality in 2024, and the already low commitment has weakened since 2022, where:
All African countries for which we have data have cut the share of budgets going to education, health and/or social protection;
- 79% have backtracked on progressive taxation; and
- 89% have regressed on labour rights, minimum wages and the provision of quality jobs.
Oxfam further observed that:
If each of the five richest African men spent US$10,000 per hour for the next 100 years, they would still be worth US$4.28 billion each on average.
If each of the five richest African billionaires were to lose 99.9999% of their wealth, they would still be 56 times richer than the bottom 99.999% of the African population on average.”
The four richest men in Africa
The recent Forbes billionaires list shows that, Aliko Dangote, Johann Rupert, Oppenheimer, and Nassef Sawiris are the top four richest individuals in Africa.
- Aliko Dangote – $23.9 billion
- Johann Rupert – $14 billion
- Nicky Oppenheimer – $10.4 billion
- Nassef Sawiris – $9.6 billion
Oxfam’s report indicates that the four people combined wealth of $57.9 billion is higher than the combined wealth held by half of the continent.
Mike Adenuga, the 71-year-old Nigerian telecom and oil magnate, rounds up the top five richest Africans with a net worth of $6.9 billion
Africa heads of governments urgently need to back track those policies that see wealth flowing to the a few while the majority is impoverished. This is the only way that the ambitious Agenda 2063 can be actualized.