Four richest Africans wealthier than half the continent: Oxfam

LAGOS, Nigeria: The four richest Africans are wealthier than about half of the continent’s 750 million people, anti-poverty charity Oxfam said in a report published on Thursday, warning widening inequality was hampering democracy.

Oxfam named only Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote, the continent’s richest man, in its report.

But according to Forbes, the top four are rounded out by South Africans Johann Rupert and Nicky Oppenheimer, along with Egyptian businessman Nassef Sawiris.

Over the past five years, African billionaires have seen their wealth soar by 56 percent, with the richest among them recording even higher gains, Oxfam said.

Nearly half of the top 50 most unequal countries in the world are also on the continent, according to the report.

Oxfam argued that government policies are skewed against the poor and provide leeway for the continent’s super-rich to amass even more wealth.

“Most African countries are not fully leveraging progressive taxation to effectively tax the super-rich and address inequality,” the report said.

However, it also blamed mounting inequality on “regressive” International Monetary Fund policies and illicit financial flows — notably the use of tax havens to hide wealth abroad.

The NGO said that inequality is hindering democracy, hampering poverty reduction and worsening the climate crisis, with “political capture” by the wealthy undermining “pro-poor government policies and the effectiveness of public institutions”.

For instance, in Africa’s biggest democracy, Nigeria, people seeking political office are often priced out of running by exorbitant fees demanded by political parties.

Meanwhile vote-buying is rampant in a country where tens of millions of people are desperately poor.

Despite the issue, Oxfam said that nearly nine-in-ten African countries since 2022 have backtracked on policies on taxation, labour rights and minimum wages which the charity says are necessary to help tackle inequality.

Oxfam recommended an overhaul of tax administrations on the continent.

Currently, Africa’s tax systems are nearly three times less effective at redistributing income from the richest one percent than the global average, it said.

Additionally, the continent loses an estimated $88.6 billion annually through illicit financial flows.

A review of the tax systems of 151 countries found that “Africa was the only region in which countries have not increased effective tax rates since 1980”, the charity said.