Africa’s richest countries

In modern statistics, the country’s wealth is considered to be based on the gross domestic product (GDP) per capita per year.

According to this indicator, Equatorial Guinea occupies the first position in Africa, its GDP is $18,387 per person, thanks to the huge volume of oil exports. In second place – Botswana ($15449), his wealth she owes the diamond fields. And in third place is Gabon ($14,865), where a lot of manganese ore is extracted.

The peculiarity of the African economy is that a high level of GDP is not an indicator of the same high level of well-being of the population.

For example, Botswana has an official unemployment rate of 25% and one of the highest rates of AIDS infection in the world. And in Gabon, according to UNESCO, a third of the population is chronically malnourished.

Well, if you do not count the dry statistics on GDP per capita, then the most developed and rich country on the African continent is South Africa (26th place in the world in total GDP). In addition, it is also the only country in Africa that does not belong to the Third world.

In second place is Egypt (27th place in the world), and in third place is Nigeria (30th place in the world).

The poor side of Africa

In many African States, the main problems and difficulties in economies are caused by a bloated, unprofessional, and inefficient bureaucracy.

Africa

As a result, social structures throughout the continent are mostly amorphous, and often the only organized force is the army, which is why there are endless military coups on the continent.

Military in Africa

It is also very common for dictators who come to power (and have come in the past) to appropriate untold wealth. As a result, the economies of many States are barely functioning, and even where there are rich natural resources, the population often lives on the verge of poverty and the crime rate is off the scale.

And all this despite the high level of GDP.