Johannesburg was the wealthiest city in Africa as of 2021. South Africa's biggest city held *** billion U.S. dollars in private wealth, while Cape Town followed with *** billion U.S. dollars. The country led the ranking of wealthiest nations in Africa. The wealth value referred to assets such as cash, properties, and business interests held by individuals living in each country, less liabilities. Moreover, government funds were excluded.

The price per square meter in a luxury apartment in Cape Town, South Africa, reached ***** U.S. dollars in 2018. It was double of the price measured in Umhlanga, also a city in South Africa, and second in the ranking. The index tracked the square meter price in selected prime apartments, measuring from *** to *** square meters, mainly in exclusive living complexes.

This statistic shows the top 5 African cities in 2014 by number of residing billionaires. In 2014, ** billionaires were living in Lagos, Nigeria.

Seychelles had the largest Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita in Africa as of 2024. The value amounted to 21,630 U.S. dollars. Mauritius followed with around 12,330 U.S. dollars, whereas Gabon registered 8,840 U.S. dollars. GDP per capita is calculated by dividing a country’s GDP by its population, meaning that some of the largest economies are not ranked within the leading ten. Impact of COVID-19 on North Africa’s GDP When looking at the GDP growth rate in Africa in 2024, Libya had the largest estimated growth in Northern Africa, a value of 7.8 percent compared to the previous year. Niger and Senegal were at the top of the list with rates of 10.4 percent and 8.3 percent, respectively. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the impact on the economy was severe. The growth of the North African real GDP was estimated at minus 1.1 percent in 2020. However, estimations for 2022 looked much brighter, as it was set that the region would see a GDP growth of six percent, compared to four percent in 2021.
Contribution of Tourism Various countries in Africa are dependent on tourism, contributing to the economy. In 2023, travel and tourism were estimated to contribute 182.6 billion U.S. dollars, a clear increase from 96.5 in 2020 following COVID-19. As of 2024, South Africa, Mauritius, and Egypt led tourism in the continent according to the Travel & Tourism Development Index.

As of April 2025, South Africa's GDP was estimated at over 410 billion U.S. dollars, the highest in Africa. Egypt followed, with a GDP worth around 347 billion U.S. dollars, and ranked as the second-highest on the continent. Algeria ranked third, with nearly 269 billion U.S. dollars. These African economies are among some of the fastest-growing economies worldwide. Dependency on oil For some African countries, the oil industry represents an enormous source of income. In Nigeria, oil generates over five percent of the country’s GDP in the third quarter of 2023. However, economies such as the Libyan, Algerian, or Angolan are even much more dependent on the oil sector. In Libya, for instance, oil rents account for over 40 percent of the GDP. Indeed, Libya is one of the economies most dependent on oil worldwide. Similarly, oil represents for some of Africa’s largest economies a substantial source of export value. The giants do not make the ranking Most of Africa’s largest economies do not appear in the leading ten African countries for GDP per capita. The GDP per capita is calculated by dividing a country’s GDP by its population. Therefore, a populated country with a low total GDP will have a low GDP per capita, while a small rich nation has a high GDP per capita. For instance, South Africa has Africa’s highest GDP, but also counts the sixth-largest population, so wealth has to be divided into its big population. The GDP per capita also indicates how a country’s wealth reaches each of its citizens. In Africa, Seychelles has the greatest GDP per capita.

As of June 2022, Nassef Sawiris, with a net worth of 7.3 billion U.S. dollars, is the richest man in Egypt, fourth richest in the African continent, and ranked 292 in the world. His sibling Naguib Sawiris ranked second, with a net worth of 3.4 billion U.S. dollars. Their father, Onsi Sawiris, who passed away in June 2021, founded Orascom Construction PLC, which he then passed on to his son Nassef. Four other Egyptian billionaires followed, with three of them belonging to the same family; Mansour. They have a combined net worth of 5.1 billion U.S. dollars. Furthermore, their family business, Mansour group, works in several industries, mainly the automotive industry. It is a General Motors dealer and owns several other franchises.

Orascom in the market since 1950

Born in a Coptic family in the South of Egypt (Upper Egypt), Onsi Sawiris started his construction career in 1950. Soon after, the president of Egypt, Gamal Abdel Nasser assumed power nationalizing the company 10 years later and preventing him from leaving the country for a few years. He was later allowed to leave for Libya returning in President Anwar Sadat’s time in office, establishing Orascom Onsi Sawiris & Co. In 1995, the company was transferred to his son Nassef. As of the fiscal year ending 2020, the total revenue of Orascom construction reached 3.37 billion U.S. dollars with an increment of 5.87 percent year-on-year.

Concentrated wealth in the continent

Among the 20 wealthiest individuals in the African continent, 14 were from Nigeria, Egypt, and South Africa. The wealthiest individual in Africa was the Nigerian Aliko Dangote of the Dangote Group. He was followed by Nicky Oppenheimer and his family and Johann Rupert and his family who were from South Africa. Nassef Sawiris, from Egypt, ranked fourth. This followed the same ranking in terms of the countries with the largest Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the continent. Furthermore, by reviewing the overall private wealth in Africa, Johannesburg, Cape Town, Cairo, and Lagos rank among the cities with the highest private wealth.

In the African region, the most valuable football team as of the 2023/2024 season was the Egyptian El Ahly, with a market value of 30.5 million euros. El Ahly was established in 1907, and since then it managed to be the most decorated club in Egypt and held the record as the team with the highest Confederation of African Football (CAF) champions league titles. The South African Mamelodi Sundowns FC followed closely with a value of 29.15 million euros. Another Egyptian and South African team followed, namely Pyramids FC and Orlando Pirates, with a market value of 21.73 million and 19.55 million euros, respectively. Furthermore, Zamalek SC ranked fifth with a market value of nearly 19.23 million euros.

Al-Ahly of Egypt dominate the CAF Champions League  

The 2022/2023 CAF Champions League kicked off on September 10 with the first preliminary round. The second preliminary round follows. There, ten teams exempted from the first round compete with the winners to reach the group stage. This is followed by two legs (Home and Away) of quarterfinals, semi-finals, and then a final. The final matches were on June 04, and June 11, 2023, between the defending champions Wydad Casablanca and Al-Ahly. The Egyptian team managed to deprive Wydad Casablanca of securing its fourth title and second consecutive title. Moreover, TP Mazembe and El Zamalek SC managed to win the CAF Champions League title five times each.

Large market value discrepancies from European leagues  

A large discrepancy can be easily recognized between African clubs and European clubs. In fact, the market value of the most valuable attacker and player in the Confederation of African Football , Victor Osimhen, stands at 120 million euros which is already higher than the market value of the most valuable club on the continent. Manchester City FC, the most valuable European football club had a market value of around 1.39 billion euros, while Arsenal followed with close to 1.32 billion euros as of June 2023.

19 of the 20 countries with the lowest estimated GDP per capita in the world in 2024 are located in Sub-Saharan Africa. South Sudan is believed to have a GDP per capita of just 351.02 U.S. dollars - for reference, Luxembourg has the highest GDP per capita in the world, at almost 130,000 U.S. dollars, which is around 400 times larger than that of Burundi (U.S. GDP per capita is over 250 times higher than Burundi's). Poverty in Sub-Saharan Africa Many parts of Sub-Saharan Africa have been among the most impoverished in the world for over a century, due to lacking nutritional and sanitation infrastructures, persistent conflict, and political instability. These issues are also being exacerbated by climate change, where African nations are some of the most vulnerable in the world, as well as the population boom that will place over the 21st century. Of course, the entire population of Sub-Saharan Africa does not live in poverty, and countries in the southern part of the continent, as well as oil-producing states around the Gulf of Guinea, do have some pockets of significant wealth (especially in urban areas). However, while GDP per capita may be higher in these countries, wealth distribution is often very skewed, and GDP per capita figures are not representative of average living standards across the population. Outside of Africa Yemen is the only country outside of Africa to feature on the list, due to decades of civil war and instability. Yemen lags very far behind some of its neighboring Arab states, some of whom rank among the richest in the world due to their much larger energy sectors. Additionally, the IMF does not make estimates for Afghanistan, which would also likely feature on this list.

South Africa had the highest inequality in income distribution in 2024, with a Gini score of **. Its South African neighbor, Namibia, followed in second. The Gini coefficient measures the deviation of income (or consumption) distribution among individuals or households within a country from a perfectly equal distribution. A value of 0 represents absolute equality, and a value of 100 represents absolute inequality. All the 20 most unequal countries in the world were either located in Africa or Latin America & The Caribbean.