When you think of the wealthiest countries in Africa, you are probably taking the GDP per capita by country into account. In this article, we list Africa’s top 10 richest countries based on GDP per capita, as estimated by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
When you go by GDP per capita PPP, these 10 African countries come up as the richest as of January 2024
Mauritius:
The economy of Mauritius is a mixed developing economy based on agriculture, exports, financial services, and tourism. Since the 1980s, the government of Mauritius has sought to diversify the country’s economy beyond its dependence on just agriculture, particularly sugar production. $11.263 billion
Libya:
The economy of Libya depends primarily on revenues from the petroleum sector, which represents over 95% of export earnings and 60% of GDP.
Botswana :
Botswana’s economy is mostly dependent on diamond mining. Diamond mining contributes to 50% of the government revenue mainly through its 50:50 joint venture with De Beers in the Debswana Diamond Company.
Gabon:
The country is rich in natural resources such as timber, manganese and oil. The country is the fifth largest oil producing nation in Africa, which has helped drive its strong growth in the later 20th century. The oil sector now accounts for 50% of GDP and 80% of exports
Equatorial Guinea:
Petroleum now accounts for the vast majority of Equatorial Guinea’s exports and contributes more than four-fifths of its gross domestic product (GDP). Nevertheless, the standard of living of most people has not significantly improved, and farming continues to be the predominant occupation
Egypt:
Egypt’s economy relies mainly on agriculture, media, petroleum imports, natural gas, and tourism. Note: Top 3 trade partners are calculated by imports + exports
South Africa:
One of the world’s largest exporters of gold, platinum, and other natural resources, it also has well-established financial, legal, communications, energy, and transport sectors and Africa’s largest stock exchange
Algeria:
Algeria’s economy is dominated by its export trade in petroleum and natural gas, commodities that, despite fluctuations in world prices, annually contribute roughly one-third of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP)
Tunisia:
Tunisia’s most significant exports are textiles and leather products, electrical machinery, and crude and refined petroleum. Its major imports are consumer products, raw materials, machinery and electrical equipment, and food products.
Morocco:
The major resources of the Moroccan economy are agriculture, phosphate minerals, and tourism. Sales of fish and seafood are important as well. Industry and mining contribute about one-third of the annual GDP
However, if you are watching out for the GDP per capita of Nigeria or the GDP per capita of Kenya, this list may surprise you since the countries that emerge on top are also some of the smallest countries in the continent
BY CATHELINE ANKUNDA
