In 2000, Africa had no billionaires. Today it has 23 whose combined wealth has soared by 56% in just the past five years, reaching a staggering $112.6 billion.
Africa’s richest 5% hold nearly $4 trillion in wealth – more than double the combined wealth of the rest of the continent.
Despite soaring poverty, African governments show least commitment to reducing inequality, and that commitment has declined since 2022.
An extra 1% tax on wealth and 10% tax on income of Africa’s richest 1% could raise $66 billion annually, more than enough to close the funding gaps for free quality education and universal access to electricity.
Today, just four of Africa’s richest billionaires hold $57.4 billion in wealth — more than the combined wealth of 750 million people, or half the continent’s population, according to a new Oxfam report.
The report – Africa’s inequality crisis and the rise of the super-rich – launched ahead of the African Union Mid-Year Coordination Meeting in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, warns that the explosive concentration of wealth is accelerating inequality, driven by policies that enrich elites while starving public services.
Fati N’Zi-Hassane, Director, Oxfam in Africa, said:
“Africa’s wealth is not missing. It’s being siphoned off by a rigged system that allows a small elite to amass vast fortunes while denying hundreds of millions even the most basic services. This is an utter policy failure –unjust, avoidable and entirely reversible.”
Africa is one of the most unequal regions in the world and has some of the highest poverty rates. Nearly half (23) of the world’s 50 most unequal countries are African, while extreme poverty has soared: seven in ten people living in extreme poverty today are in Africa, compared to just one in ten in 1990. Hunger is also worsening, with nearly 850 million Africans experiencing hunger — an increase of 20 million since 2022.
Despite deepening poverty and widening inequalities, African governments remain the least committed globally to narrowing the gap — slashing budgets for public services like education, health and social protection, while imposing some of the world’s lowest wealth taxes on the ultra-rich. On average, the continent collects just 0.3% of GDP in wealth taxes. This is less than any other region and well below Asia (0.6%), Latin America (0.9%), and OECD countries (1.8%). Over the past decade, that already meagre share has dropped by nearly 25%.
For each dollar African countries raise from personal income and wealth taxes, they collect nearly three dollars from indirect taxes like Value Added Tax (VAT) — levies that deepen inequality.
The consequences are glaring. Half of Africa’s population live in 19 countries where income inequality has worsened or stagnated over the past decade. The richest 5% in Africa now hold nearly $4 trillion in wealth, more than double the combined wealth of the remaining 95% of the continent’s population.
Fatouma, a mother of 10 children who sells vegetables in El Afweyn, Somalia says: “Meat is a luxury we cannot afford in many homes. I earn about two dollars a day while the price of one kilo of flour has tripled.”
The report also finds that:
In just three days, someone in Africa’s richest 1% earns what it takes a person in the poorest half an entire year to make.
Even if they lost almost all their wealth (keeping just 0.01%) Africa’s five richest men would still be 56 times richer than the average person on the continent.
Men in Africa own three times more wealth than women, the widest gender wealth gap of all regions in the world.
Over the past five years, African billionaires have increased their wealth by 56%.
As debt burdens mount, governments across the continent are squeezing the poor – gutting essential public services – while shielding the wealthiest from fair taxation. An earlier report by Oxfam and Development Finance International found that 94% of African countries with active World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) loans (44 out of 47 countries) have slashed spending on education, health and social protection in 2023-2024 to repay debt. This significantly undermines the AU’s goal of reducing inequality by 15% over the next 10 years.
“The solution is not far-fetched: tax the rich and invest in the majority. Anything less is a betrayal. If African leaders are serious about their commitments, they must stop rewarding the few and start building economies that work for everyone,” added N’Zi-Hassane.
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Some African governments are already proving that fairer economies are possible. Morocco and South Africa collect 1.5% and 1.2% of their GDP from property taxes, respectively — among the highest in the continent. In Seychelles, the poorest 50% have seen their income share grow by 76% since 2000, while the richest 1% have lost two-thirds of theirs. The government also guarantees universal healthcare, free quality education, along with a robust welfare system for the most vulnerable.
A modest tax on Africa’s richest – just 1% more on wealth and 10% more on income – could generate $66 billion a year for the continent (2.29% of Africa’s GDP), according to the report. This would be more than enough to close the funding gaps needed to deliver free quality education and provide electricity to every home and business still in the dark.
“Every African woman, man and child deserves to live in dignity. When a handful of billionaires are allowed to hoard obscene wealth while millions are trapped in poverty, the system becomes not just broken but morally bankrupt. As leaders meet for AU Summit, delay is indefensible. Taxing the super-rich isn’t just fair — it’s essential for building the Africa we want,” said N’Zi-Hassane.