*Five of the richest Nigerians can end poverty
The Oxfam in a new report titled “A Tale of Two Continents”, has said that three African billionaires today have more wealth than the poorest 50 percent or 650 million people across the continent.
The report, launched as African political and business leaders gather this week for the World Economic Forum Africa Meeting in Cape Town, South Africa, shows how rising and extreme inequality across Africa is undermining efforts to fight poverty.
The Executive Director of Oxfam International, Winnie Byanyima, said that the report reveals that while the richest Africans fortunes are increasing, extreme poverty is rising in the continent.
The report also looks at how unsustainable levels of debt and a rigged international tax system are depriving African governments of billions of dollars in lost revenue each year, money that could otherwise be invested in education, healthcare and social protection.
The report said that Africa is rapidly becoming the epicenter of global extreme poverty and that while the number of people living on less than $1.90 a day has plummeted in Asia, this number is rising in Africa.
The World Bank estimates that 87 percent of the world’s extreme poor will be in Africa by 2030, if current trends continue.
“Africa is ready to rise, but only once its leaders have the courage to back a more human economy that works for the many and not a few super-rich men. They can achieve this by investing in inequality-busting, universal and quality public services like health and education and by developing truly progressive tax systems. These are particularly powerful for women and girls living in poverty,” Byanyima said.
Apart from the three African billionaires now having more wealth than the poorest 50 percent or 650 million people across the continent, the report also shows that the most unequal country in the region, Swaziland, is home to one billionaire, Nathan Kirsh, who is estimated to have $4.9bn.
“If he worked in one of the restaurants that his wholesale company supplies on a worker’s minimum wage, it would take him 5.7 million years to earn his current level of wealth,” the report said.
According to the report, the combined wealth of the five richest Nigerians is more than enough to end poverty in Nigeria, with Nigeria’s girl population making up 60 percent of the over 10 million out-of-school children.
“75 percent of the wealth of African multi-millionaires and billionaires is held offshore; as a result, the continent is losing $14bn annually in uncollected tax revenue,” the report said.
